UBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


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THEOLOGICAL  SEMtNARy 


BV2010  .R47  1911 

Report  of  the  first  annual 

meeting  of  the  Board  of 

Missionary 

Studies  :  held  in  New  York 

City,  December  6, 

1911  :  with  an  account  of 


/. 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  REPORTS 

BOARD  OF  MISSIONARY 

PREPARATION 


1911-1912 


Divisiori   j" 
Section 


,^^m  ur  m,ce^^ 


OCT  18  191R 


t^o^ 


THE  REPORT  OF  THE  FIRST  ANNUAL 

MEETING    OF    THE    BOARD    OF 

MISSIONARY     STUDIES 

Held  in  New  York  City 
December  6,  1911 


WITH  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  BOARD 


EDITED   BY 

Fennell  p.  Turner 

AND 

Frank  K.  Sanders 


Published  by  Order  of  the  Board 
25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 


OFFICERS  AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD 

Term  Expiring  in  1913 

Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.D.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Professor  Osw^ald  E.  Brown,  D.D.,  Nashville.  Tenn. 

Superintendent  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh,  Ph.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Professor  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Rev.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Luther  H.  Gulick,  M.D.,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Fred  P.  Haggard,  D.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 

President  William  W.  Moore,  D.D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Principal  Thomas  R.  O'Meara,  D.D.,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

Fennell  p.  Turner,  New  York  City. 

Miss  Addie  Grace  Wardle,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Term  Expiring  in  1914 

Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton,  D.D.,  Chicago,  111. 
Miss  Helen  B.  Calder,  Boston,  Mass. 
Professor  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.D.,  Princeton,  N.  J. 
President  Henry  C.  King,  D.D.,  Oberlin,  O. 
Right  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 
Rev.  Robert  P.  Mackay,  D.D.,  Toronto,  Ontario. 
President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  Hartford,  Conn. 
President  Edgar  Y.  Mullins,  D.D.,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Dean  Wilford  L.  Robbins,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 
Professor  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross,  M.A.,  New  York  City. 
Bishop  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

Term  Expiring  in  1915 

Professor  George  William  Knox,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

John  R.  Mott,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 

President  Charles  T.  Paul,  Ph.D.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Dean  James  E.  Russell,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Thomas  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  a.  F.  Schauffler,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  T.  E.  Egerton  Shore,  D.D.,  Toronto,  Canada. 

Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

Professor  John  H.'  Strong,  Ph.D.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D.,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

President  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Officers  for  1912 

President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  Chairman, 

Hosmer  Hall,  Hartford,  Conn. 
Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  Honorary  Secretary, 

600  Lexington  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

The  Executive  Committee 

W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  Chairman. 
James  L.  Barton. 
Ernest  D.  Burton. 
William  I.  Chamberlain. 
T.  E.  Egerton  Shore. 
Charles  R.  Erdman. 
Mrs.  a.  F.  Schauffler. 
Fennell  P.  Turner. 


CONTENiTS 

PAGE 

Officers  and  Members  of  the  Board 2- 

An  Account  of  the  Origin  of  the  Board 7-21 

Minutes  of  the  First  Annual  Meeting 25-29 

Addresses  at  the  First  Annual  Meeting: 

The  Importance  of   Increased  Efficiency   in  the  Training 

of  Missionaries,  Dr.  John  R.  Mott '.  .  .  .   33-37 

The  Need  of  Special  Missionary  Preparation,  President  W. 

Douglas  Mackenzie  37-45 

The  Need  of  the  Study  of  Education  in  the  Training  of 

Missionaries,  Dr.  Thomas  H.  P.  Sailer ; 45^8 

The  Language  Study  of  Missionary  Candidates  Before  Go- 
ing to  Their  Fields,  Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach 49-56 

The  Necessity  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  as  Seen 
by  the  Foreign  Missionary  Boards,  Reverend  James  L. 
Barton    56-60 

The  Necessity  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  as  Seen 
by  the  Foreign  Missionary,  Reverend  William  I.  Cham- 
berlain     60-62 

The  Need  of  a  Board  of  Studies  from  the  Standpoint  of  a 

Foreign  Missionary,  Reverend  Homer  C.  Stuntz 63-64 

The  Necessity  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  as  Seen 
by  Students  of  Missions,  Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton. .  .   64-67 

The  Paramount  Place  of  the  Bible  in  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion, President  Wilbert  W.  White 67-69 

The  Wisdom  of  Cooperation  Between  the  Two  Boards  of 

Studies,  Reverend  Henry  T.  Hodgkin 69-73 

A  Plan  for  Dealing  with  the  Health  Problems  of  the  Mis- 
sionary, Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick 73-74 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ORIGIN 
OF  THE  BOARD 


THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE   BOARD   OF   MISSIONARY 

STUDIES 

At  the  World  Missionary  Conference  in  1910,  the  report 
of  Commission  Five  on  the  Preparation  of  Missionaries,  of 
which  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie  was  the  chairman, 
after  surveying  thoroughly  the  complex  conditions  on  the 
mission  field  today,  the  intellectual  and  social  movements  that 
are  taking  place  everywhere,  the  standards  of  missionary 
Societies  in  the  selection  of  their  missionaries,  the  methods  of 
ascertaining  the  qualifications  of  candidates  and  of  prepar- 
ing them  for  their  specific  work,  the  opportunities  offered  in 
Great  Britain,  on  the  Continent  and  in  North  America  for 
institutional  training,  and  the  principles  which  should  under- 
lie any  scheme  of  adequate  preparation  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  there  was  a  "practically  unanimous  recognition  of 
the  need  for  more  specialized  preparation  of  missionaries  for 
their  work  and  for  their  particular  mission  field,"  ^  a  conclu- 
sion which  was  fully  supported  by  the  open  discussion  before 
the  Conference. 

After  traversing  many  suggestions  that  had  been  made 
regarding  the  establishment  of  centers  of  specialized  train- 
ing, both  on  the  field  and  at  home,  the  Commission  came  to 
the  conclusion  that,  in  view  of  the  complexity  of  the  situation, 
it  was  advisable  for  the  Conference  to  propose  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  to  give  expert  atten- 
tion on  behalf  of  the  missionary  Societies  to  all  the  factors 
involved  in  the  adequate  preparation  of  missionaries  for  their 
task. 

In  pursuance  of  this  conclusion  the  Commission  made  the 
following  recommendation  to  the  Conference : 

''Accordingly,  in  the  devout  and  glad  hope  of  results,  some  of 
which  are  within  sight,  we  propose  to  the  Conference  that  it  should 
institute  a  Board  of  Missionary  Studies,  the  general  purpose  of  which 

1  Vol.  V  of  the  Report  of  the  World  Missionary   Conference  of  1910,  p.   180. 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

shall  be  to  supply  guidance  and  to  render  assistance  to  Missionary 
Societies  in  the  preparation  of  missionaries  for  their  work.  The  duty 
of  the  Board  shall  be  to  acquaint  itself  with  all  available  means  for 
the  study  of  missionary  subjects,  with  the  facilities  provided  at  the 
different  universities,  colleges  and  seminaries,  with  the  work  of  pro- 
fessors, lecturers  and  teachers,  and  with  all  details  which  may  enable 
Societies  to  direct  the  work  of  students  in  their  preparation.  The 
Board  would  be  able  to  act,  when  desired,  as  an  advisory  Body  for 
Missionary  Societies  and  Colleges,  for  seminaries  and  individual 
missionaries,  both  as  to  particulars,  such  as  where  a  special  language 
could  best  be  studied,  and  also  as  to  general  matters,  such  as  the 
best  curriculum  of  training  for  special  types  of  Mission  work.  While 
at  first  the  functions  of  such  a  Board  would  be  mainly  advisory,  it 
might  be  expected  to  reach  a  position  in  which  it  could  take  important 
and  helpful  action  by  organizing  teaching  in  subjects  not  otherwise 
provided  for,  either  permanently  or  temporarily,  and  by  promoting 
the  cooperation  of  Societies  and  Colleges  in  affording  facilities  to 
students.  By  ascertaining  the  special  teaching  provided  at  different 
institutions  it  might  be  enabled  to  secure  coordination  or,  at  any 
rate,  to  convey  information,  and  to  make  it  possible  that  the  special 
advantages  afforded  by  one  institution  should  be  made  available  as 
widely  as  possible. 

"Further,  if,  as  we  earnestly  desire,  some  of  the  proposed  schemes 
for  Centers  of  Study  at  home  and  in  the  field  are  carried  into  effect, 
the  Board  would  be  able  to  supply  information  about  them  to  the 
Societies,  and  to  give  counsel  both  to  the  Societies  and  to  individual 
missionaries  as  to  the  most  profitable  employment  of  furlough  for 
study  and  research  and  as  to  other  kindred  subjects.  While  the  need 
for  such  a  Board  is  well  illustrated  in  Great  Britain  by  the  proposal 
to  found  a  School  of  Oriental  Studies,  the  advantages  which  a  Board 
would  confer  upon  missionary  training  would  be  of  a  much  wider 
reach,  and  a  similar  Board  would  be  of  equal  value  in  any  country 
ivhere  missionary  enterprise  is  active.  If  Boards  were  formed  in  the 
United  States,  Canada,  Germany,  and  elsewhere,  they  would  be  enabled, 
by  consultation  with  one  another,  to  advance  the  whole  cause  of  mis- 
sionary study  and  preparation.  Together  or  separately  they  might 
prepare  a  Year  Book  of  Missions  which  would  give  clear  and  full 
information  on  matters  of  common  interest;  and  they  might  further 
the  preparation  and  publication  of  missionary  text-books,  the  urgent 
need  for  which  is  universally  recognized. 

8 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOARD 

"In  the  case  of  Great  Britain  it  is  especially  important  that  such  i 
Board  be  formed  at  once.  If  constituted  in  such  a  way  and  by  such 
persons  as  to  carry  weight,  it  may  possibly  exercise  influence  in  the 
organization  of  the  School  for  Oriental  Studies.  It  might  find  repre- 
sentation upon  the  delegacy  appointed  to  govern  that  school,  or  other- 
wise bring  its  opinion  to  bear  upon  that  delegacy.  But  apart  from 
this,  so  good  an  opportunity  to  form  such  a  Board  is  not  likely  to 
recur  for  years.  We  recommend,  therefore,  that  the  Conference 
should  take  steps  to  secure  the  institution  of  a  Board,  inter-denomina- 
tional in  character,  and  including  representatives  of  the  leading  Mis- 
sionary Societies.  The  Societies  to  be  represented  might  be  selected 
either  by  a  nominating  committee  or  in  accordance  with  the  number 
of  their  missionaries  at  work  in  the  mission  field.  Besides  these, 
there  should  be  co-opted  members,  who  might  be  representatives  ol 
universities  and  theological  colleges,  with  leading  missionaries  eithei 
retired  or  on  furlough.  For  efficiency,  it  would  be  necessary  that  the 
membership  of  the  Board  should  be  small,  not  exceeding,  say,  twenty- 
four. 

"Such  a  Board,  whilst  beginning  quietly,  might  come  to  exercise 
an  extremely  important  influence,  and  to  cooperate  in  many  helpful 
directions  with  similar  Boards  in  other  lands.  Leaving  each  Society 
free  to  train  its  candidates  in  its  own  way,  it  would  be  the  servant 
of  all  Societies,  furnishing  each  with  such  information  and  guidance 
as  might  from  time  to  time  be  requested.  Its  wide  outlook  would 
enable  it  to  judge  as  to  the  subjects  that  require  investigation,  and 
the  courses  of  study  that  could  be  profitably  pursued.  Being  in  close 
and  friendly  relation  to  centers  of  missionary  study  all  over  the 
world,  it  could  point  out  to  them  considerations  that  ought  to  be 
taken  into  account,  and  receive  from  them  the  results  of  their  ex- 
perience and  research,  and  so  would  stimulate  and  concentrate  all 
eiTorts  in  missionary  study.  It  would  also  be  of  immense  use  to 
those  who  at  home  are  guiding  the  educational  policy  of  the  different 
Alissionary  Societies,  and  it  might  put  the  professors,  lecturers  and 
tutors  of  Colleges  and  Seminaries  in  the  way  of  obtaining  the  knowl- 
edge they  so  much  need  for  the  wise  and  statesmanlike  execution  of 
their  important  duties. 

"We  believe  that  in  these  and  many  other  ways  the  institution  of 
.such  a  Board  of  Study  as  we  recommend  would,  with  God's  blessing, 
supply  a  channel  which  would  disseminate  and  perpetuate  the  benefits 
of  the  World  Missionary  Conference."  ' 

^  Report   of   World   Missionary   Conference,    Vol.    V,   pp.    189-192. 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

There  was  a  prompt  response  in  Great  Britain  to  this 
recommendation.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  Continuation 
Committee  of  the  Conference,  June  24th  and  25th,  1910,  a 
sub-committee  on  the  Formation  of  a  Board  of  Study  in 
Great  Britain  was  appointed  to  elaborate  suggestions  for  the 
immediate  formation  of  such  a  body  as  had  been  proposed. 
This  Committee  formulated  a  constitution  and  drew  up  a 
plan  of  work  and  a  method  of  appointment  of  members,  sub- 
mitting the  scheme  in  a  communication,  dated  December 
12th,  to  the  missionary  Societies  of  Great  Britain  for  their 
approval.  A  large  majority  of  the  Societies  approved  the 
proposals.  At  a  meeting  held  in  London  in  March,  1911, 
representatives  of  the  Societies  took  the  necessary  steps  to 
constitute  the  British  Board  of  Study  for  the  Preparation  of 
Missionaries.  The  first  meeting  of  the  newly  constituted 
Board  of  Study  was  held  on  March  31st,  191 1.  At  this  meet- 
ing the  Board  elected  an  Executive  Committee  and  defined 
its  duties.  By  June  16th  it  had  appointed  a  salaried  secre- 
tary, the  Reverend  H.  U.  Weitbrecht,  Ph.D.,  D.D.  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  in  the  Panjab,  India,  who  began 
his  work  on  September  1st,  1911.^ 

Meanwhile  the  same  proposal  had  been  made  to  the  mis- 
sionary Societies  of  North  America  by  the  transmission  of 
the  recommendation  of  Commission  Five  to  the  Committee 
of  Reference  and  Counsel  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Confer- 
ence of  North  America  by  Dr.  Mott  and  Dr.  Oldham  on  be- 
half of  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the  World  Mission- 
ary Conference. 

The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  in  reporting  this 
communication  to  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  at  its 
regular  meeting  in  January,  1911,  took  occasion  to  add: 

"It  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  foregoing  recommendation  is 
not  concerned  with  the  general  preparation  of  missionaries,  but  with 
their  specifically  missionary  preparation,  that  is,  the  study  of  such 

^  For  full  details  regarding  the  work  of  the  British  Board  of  Study  see  its  Annual  Re- 
ports obtainable  from  the  Secretary,  2  Church  Crescent,  Muswell  Hill,  London,   N. 

10 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOARD 

matters  as  languages,  religions,  history  and  customs  of  the  countries 
to  which  they  are  appointed  and  the  history  and  distinctive  problems 
and  methods  of  missionary  work  among  non-Christians.  The  theo- 
logical and  dogmatic  instruction  of  intending  missionaries  is  not  to  be 
included,  and  the  Board  of  Studies  will  not  pronounce  any  opinion  on 
doctrinal  or  ecclesiastical  questions  regarding  which  those  cooperating 
in  the  work  differ  among  themselves. 

•The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Continuation  Committee  have 
already  laid  this  proposal  before  the  missionary  Societies  of  Great 
Britain,  together  with  suggestions  as  to  the  constitution  and  functions 
of  such  a  Board,  and  the  proposal  is  receiving  most  favorable  con- 
sideration. 

"The  officers  of  the  Continuation  Committee  have  raised  the  ques- 
tion with  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  whether  it  would 
not  be  desirable  for  the  present  Conference  of  Representatives  of  the 
Missionary  Societies  of  North  America  to  appoint  a  representative 
committee  which,  in  conjunction  with  the  Committee  of  Reference 
and  Counsel,  would  investigate  the  need  and  practicability  of  creating 
a  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  in  North  America,  these  two  com- 
mittees conjointly  to  have  power  to  take  such  action  as  they  deem 
best  in  the  direction  of  the  creation  of  such  a  Board. 

"We,  therefore,  recommend  that  this  Conference  arrange  for  the 
appointment  of  a  representative  Committee  which,  in  conjunction  with 
the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  shall  decide  whether  a 
Board  of  Missionary  Studies  should  be  created  in  North  America,  and 
that  these  two  Committees  conjointly  be  empowered  to  take  any  action 
which  they  may  consider  desirable  and  necessary  to  create  such  a 
Board." ' 

This  recommendation  was  referred  to  the  Business  Com- 
mittee of  the  Conference,  which  reported  the  following  reso- 
lution, which  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Conference: 

Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  Nineteen  be  appointed,  including  the 
twelve  members  of  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  to  con- 
sider whether  a  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  shall  be  created  in 
North  America,  and  that  this  Committee  be  empowered  to  take  any 
action  which  it  may  consider  desirable  for  the  creation  of  such  a  Board. 

The  following  were  chosen  as  the  additional  members  of 

^"Report  of  Eighteenth  Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards."  1911,  pp.  75,  76. 

11 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

the  Committee:  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  the  Rev.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.D.,  Dr.  T.  H.  P. 
Sailer,  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach, 
D.D.,  the  Rev.  Fred  P.  Haggard,  D.D.,  and  Principal  A. 
Gandier.^ 

The  members  of  the  Committee  of  Nineteen  as  thus  con- 
stituted were : 

The  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Barbour,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Erdman.  D.D. 

Principal  A.  Gandier,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Fred  P.  Hagg'ard,  D.D. 

Bishop  Walter  R.  Lambuth.  D.D. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Alexander  McLean,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Robert  P.  Mackay,  D.D. 

President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

John  R.  MoU,  LL.D. 

T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D. 

The  Rev.  Paul  de  Schweinitz,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  T.  E.  Egerton  Shore,  M.A. 

The  Rev.  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  D.D. 

Mr.  F.  P.  Turner 

The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D. 

The  Committee  of  Nineteen  met  on  January  13,  1911,  in 
the  Board  Room  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  in  New  York  City.  The 
entire  committee  was  present. 

Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown  was  chosen  chairman,  and  Dr.  Fred 
P.  Haggard,  secretary. 

After  prolonged  consideration  of  the  question  referred  to 
the  Committee  by  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference,  the  fol- 
lowing action  was  taken : 

»  Id.    ib.    p.    79. 

12 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOARD 

Voted:  That  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Committee  of  Nineteen  that 
steps  should  be  taken  at  once  to  create  in  North  America  a  Board 
of  Study  for  the  Preparation  of  Missionaries,  which  Board  shall  in 
due  time,  if  practicable,  be  related  to  the  Annual  Conference  of  the 
Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  the  United  States  and  Canada;  and  that 
a  Committee  of  five  be  appointed  by  the  Chairman : 

(1)  To  study  the  whole  subject  and  present  a  plan  of  organiza- 
tion for  such  a  Board,  including  its  composition,  its  functions  and  how 
it  shall  be  perpetuated. 

(2)  To  call  the  full  Committee  together  after  the  completion  of 
the  task  to  give  unhurried  consideration  to  the  report. 

('3)  To  present  to  the  full  Committee  a  list  of  names  from  which 
it  may  select  a  thoroughly  representative  Board. 

The  chairman  named  as  members  of  this  committee  of  hve 
Drs.  Erdman,  Mackenzie,  Mott,  Shore  and  Watson,  with  the 
imderstanding  that  they  should  select  their  own  chairman. 
This  sub-committee  was  requested  to  report  to  the  full  com- 
mittee at  a  meeting  appointed  for  June  8,  1911. 

On  the  date  appointed  the  Committee  of  Nineteen  met  in 
Montclair,  N.  J.  There  were  present  the  following  mem- 
bers: Dr.  A.  J.  Brown,.  Dr.  Paul  de  Schweinitz,  Dr.  H.  C. 
Stuntz,  Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Professor  H.  P.  Beach,  Mr.  F.  P. 
Turner,  Dr.  T.  S.  Barbour,  Dr.  T.  E.  E.  Shore,  Dr.  J.R.  Mott, 
Bishop  A.  S.  Lloyd,  Dr.  J.  L.  Barton,  President  W.  D.  Mac- 
kenzie and  Dr.  C.  R.  Watson.  A  full  day  was  devoted  to  the 
consideration  of  the  report  of  the  sub-committee  of  five, 
resulting  in  the  adoption  of  a  constitution  for  the  proposed 
Board ;  the  selection  of  a  list  of  thirty-six  names  of  those  who 
were  to  be  invited  to  serve  as  members  of  the  Board;  the 
choice  of  President  Mackenzie  and  of  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 
to  .serve  as  Chairman  and  Secretary  of  the  Board  until  the 
next  meeting  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  in  January, 
1912;  the  appointment  of  an  acting  Executive  Committee 
consisting  of  J.  L.  Barton,  H.  P.  Beach,  C.  R.  Erdman,  W.  D. 
Mackenzie,  J.  R.  Mott,  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  F.  P.  Turner,  C  R. 
Watson,  empowered  to  make  all  arrangements  for  the  first 

13 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

annual  meeting  of  the  Board  on  December  6th,  1911 ;  and  in 
the  decision  to  prepare  and  send  a  full  report  of  the  action 
of  the  Committee  of  Nineteen  to  each  of  the  Societies  and 
Boards  connected  with  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference. 

Under  date  of  June  15th,  1911,  the  following  report  of  the 
formation  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  was  sent  to 
all  the  mission  Boards  and  Societies  connected  with  the 
Foreign  Missions  Conference : 

June  15,  1911. 

To  the  Boards  and  Societies  Represented  in  The  Foreign  Missions 
Conference  of  North  America: 

You  will  recall  that  one  of  the  most  important  proposals  which 
came  before  The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  /America 
last  January  related  to  the  establishment  of  A  Board  of  Missionary 
Studies.  This  proposal  had  its  immediate  origin  in  recommendations 
submitted  by  Commission  V  of  The  World  Missionary  Conference  of 
1910  on  "The  Preparation  of  Missionaries."  The  report  of  that  Com- 
mission contained  the  following  summary: 

"The  evidence  laid  before  the  Commission  has  shown  that  there  is  a  practically 
unanimous  recognition  of  the  need  for  more  specialized  preparation  of  mis- 
sionaries for  their  work  and  for  their  particular  mission  field.  The  preparation 
is  taken  to  include  (1)  a  literary  and  scientific  study  of  languages,  (2)  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  religious  history  and  sociology  of  special  races,  (3)  acquaintance  with 
the  general  principles  and  laws  of  missionary  enterprise  and  method.  The  unan- 
imity and  earnestness  of  the  testimony  submitted  on  this  matter  have  been  impres- 
sive, and  indeed  irresistible  in  their  cogency.  It  is  impossible  to  doubt  the  existence 
of  a  real  and  urgent  necessity,  and  its  special  character  has  been  emphasized  and 
defined  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

"It  is  equally  clear  that  the  necessity  cannot  be  adequately  met  by  existing 
institutions,  or  by  Societies  separately.  Although  we  have  urged  strongly  that 
in  all  Theological  Colleges  and  Seminaries  more  should  be  done  than  at  present 
for  the  special  training  of  those  of  the  students  who  are  preparing  for  the  foreign 
field,  such  work  will  always  be  limited  by  the  resources  of  these  institutions,  and 
also  by  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  their  students  are  preparing  for  the 
home  ministry.  Nor  could  any  one  Society  undertake  to  equip  and  maintain  a 
Missionary  College  such  as  is  required  except  on  a  small  scale.  The  cooperation 
of  Missionary  Societies  is  essential,  and  it  is  a  hopeful  and  guiding  sign  that, 
while  the  necessity  of  which  we  speak  is  recognized  on  every  hand,  there  have 
been  very  numerous  and  spontaneous  indications  of  a  desire  for  cooperation 
on  the  part  of  experienced  representatives  of  many  Societies  and  Churches. 

"This  specialized  training  can  only  properly  be  given  to  those  who  have 
I'.lready  received  a  liberal  education ;  it  must  be  of  the  nature  of  post-graduate 

14 


ORIGIN    OF   THE    BOARD 

study.  It  would  therefore  not  interfere  with  the  general  training  which  the 
Societies  prescribe  for  their  candidates,  nor  with  the  special  Qiurch  training 
which  each  Society  holds  to  be  essential.  It  would  meet  a  common  need,  and 
would  form  an  invaluable  supplement  to  present  arrangements  and  to  existing 
institutions.     .     .     . 

"Accordingly,  in  the  devout  and  glad  hope  of  results,  some  of  which  are 
within  sight,  we  propose  to  the  Conference  that  it  should  institute  a  Board  of 
Missionary  Studies,  the  general  purpose  of  which  shall  be  to  supply  guidance 
and  to  render  assistance  to  Missionary  Societies  in  the  preparation  of  mission- 
aries for  their  work.  The  duty  of  the  Board  shall  be  to  acquaint  itself  with  all 
available  means  for  the  study  of  missionary  subjects,  with  the  facilities  provided 
at  the  different  universities,  colleges,  and  seminaries,  with  the  work  of  professors, 
lecturers,  and  teachers,  and  with  all  details  which  may  enable  Societies  to  direct 
the  work  of  students  in  their  preparation.  The  Board  would  be  able  to  act, 
when  desired,  as  an  advisory  Body  for  Missionary  Societies  and  Colleges,  for 
seminaries  and  individual  missionaries,  both  as  to  particulars,  such  as  where  a 
special  language  could  best  be  studied,  and  also  as  to  general  matters,  such  as  the 
best  curriculum  of  training  for  special  types  of  Mission  work.  While  at  first  the 
functions  of  such  a  Board  would  be  mainly  advisory,  it  might  be  expected  to 
reach  a  position  in  which  it  could  take  important  and  helpful  action  by  organizing 
teaching  in  subjects  not  otherwise  provided  for,  either  permanently  or  tempo- 
rarily, and  by  promoting  the  cooperation  of  Societies  and  Colleges  in  affording 
facilities  to  students.  By  ascertaining  the  special  teaching  provided  at  different 
institutions  it  might  be  enabled  to  secure  coordination,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  convey 
information,  and  to  make  it  possible  that  the  special  advantages  aflforded  by  one 
institution  should  be  made  available  as  widely  as  possible. 

"Further,  if,  as  we  earnestly  desire,  some  of  the  proposed  schemes  for  Cen- 
ters of  Study  at  home  and  in  the  field  are  carried  into  effect,  the  Board  would  be 
able  to  supply  information  about  them  to  the  Societies,  and  to  give  counsel  both 
to  the  Societies  and  to  individual  missionaries  as  to  the  most  profitable  employ- 
ment of  furlough  for  study  and  research  and  as  to  other  kindred  subjects.  While 
the  need  for  such  a  Board  is  well  illustrated  in  Great  Britain  by  the  proposal  to 
found  a  School  of  Oriental  Studies,  the  advantages  which  a  Board  would  confer 
upon  missionary  training  would  be  of  a  much  wider  reach,  and  a  similar  Board 
would  be  of  equal  value  in  any  country  where  missionary  enterprise  is  active.  If 
Boards  were  formed  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  Germany,  and  elsewhere,  they 
would  be  enabled,  by  consultation  with  one  another,  to  advance  the  whole  cause 
of  missionary  study  and  preparation.  Together  or  separately  they  might  prepare 
a  Year  Book  of  Missions  which  would  give  clear  and  full  information  on  matters 
of  common  interest;  and  they  might  further  the  preparation  and  publication  of 
missionary  text-books,  the  urgent  need  for  which  is  universally  recognized.    .    .    . 

"Leaving  each  Society  free  to  train  its  candidates  in  its  own  way,  it  (the 
proposed  Board)  would  be  the  servant  of  all  Societies,  furnishing  each  with  such 
information  and  guidance  as  mi^ht  from  time  to  time  be  requested.  Its  wide 
outlook  would  enable  it  to  judge  as  to  the  subjects  that  require  investigation  and 
the  courses  of  study  that  could  be  profitably  pursued.  Being  in  close  and  friendly 
relation  to  centers  of  missionary  study  all  over  the  world,  it  could  point  out  to 
them  considerations  that  ought  to  be  taken  into  account,  and  receive  from  them 
the  results  of  their  experience  and  research,  and  so  would  stimulate  and  concen- 

15 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

trate  all  efforts  in  missionary  study.  It  would  also  be  of  immense  use  to  those 
who  at  home  are  guiding  the  educational  policy  of  the  different  Missionary 
Societies,  and  it  might  put  the  professors,  lecturers,  and  tutors  of  Colleges  and 
Seminaries  in  the  way  of  obtaining  the  knowledge  they  so  much  need  for  the 
wise  and  statesmanlike  execution  of  their  important  duties. 

"We  'believe  that  in  these  and  many  other  ways  the  institution  of  such  a 
Board  of  Study  as  we  recommend  would,  with  God's  blessing,  supply  a  channel 
Rrhich  would  disseminate  and  perpetuate  the  benefits  of  the  World  Missionary 
-Conference." 

The  Continuation  Committee  appointed  by  The  World  Missionary 
Conference  presented  this  recommendation  of  Commission  V  with  a 
strong  endorsement  to  the  Boards  and  Societies  of  Great  Britain  and 
North  America.  The  British  Societies  have  already  approved  it  and 
a  Board  of  Study  for  that  country  has  been  constituted  with  an 
influential  membership  and  every  prospect  of  large  usefulness.  In 
North  America  The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  was  re- 
quested to  take  up  the  matter,  and  after  careful  consideration  it 
embodied  a  recommendation  on  the  subject  in  its  annual  report  to 
The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America,  January  12, 
1911.  The  Conference  unanimously  adopted  the  recommendation  and 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Nineteen,  including  the  twelve  members  of 
The  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  with  power  to  take  all 
necessary  steps  for  the  creation  of  such  a  Board  of  Studies.  This 
Committee  met  January  13th,  carefully  considered  the  whole  question, 
and  appointed  a  sub-committee  of  five  to  work  out  details  of  organiza- 
tion and  report  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  June  8th.  The  Committee 
convened  again  on  the  latter  date  and  devoted  the  entire  day  to  the 
report  of  its  sub-committee  and  the  organization  and  membership  of 
the  Board.  After  full  discussion,  the  following  Constitution  was 
unanimously  adopted : 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MISSIONARY  STUDIES 


I.     NAME 

The  Board  shall  be  called  "The  Board  of  Alissionary  Studies  for  North 
America."  ' 

II.     AIM 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  shall  have  for  its  aim  to  secure  the  most 
adequate  kind  and  quality  of  preparation  for  those  who  are  in  training  /i.r 
foreign  missionary  service. 

16 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOARD 

1!I.     ORGANIZATION 

1.  The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  shall  be  appointed  by  and  responsible  to 
The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America. 

2.  It  shall  be  composed  of  not  more  than  thirty-six  members,  who  shall  be 
appointed  for  not  over  three  years.  At  the  first  appointment  they  shall  be 
arranged  in  three  groups  appointed  for  one.  two  and  three  years,  respectively. 
Members  shall  be  eligible  for  reelection. 

3.  All  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by  The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North 
America  from  nominations  made  by  The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies,  except 
that  vacancies  occurring  dtiring  the  year  may  be  filled  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Board  to  serve  until  the  n«xt  m.eeting  of  The  Foreign  Missions 
Conference. 

4.  The  officers  of  The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  shall  consist  of  a  Chair- 
man and  a  Secretary,  who  shall  be  appointed  by  The  Foreign  Missions  Confer- 
ence on  the  nomination  of  tlie  Board  from  the  members  of  the  Board,  and  who 
shall  be  members  ex-officio  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board. 

5.  The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  shall  appoint  annually  an  Executive 
Committee  of  seven  in  addition  to  the  officers  above  named,  making  nine  in  all, 
whose  duties  shall  be  to  carry  out  the  aims  of  the  Board  under  the  methods 
hereinafter  defined,  and  to  report  its  transactions  in  full  to  the  Board. 

6.  The  Board  shall  hold  an  annual  meeting  at  which  it  shall  hear  the  annual 
report  of  its  Executive  Committee,  consider  all  matters  proper  to  its  general 
aim,  appoint  its  Executive  Committee  for  the  following  year,  and  prepare  its 
own  annual  report  to  the  Conference.  Other  meetings  of  the  Board  may  be 
held  at  the  call  of  the  Executive  Committee.  A  majority  of  the  Board  shall  con- 
stitute a  quorum. 

7.  The  Board  shall  have  the  power  to  create  special  cooperating  committees, 
to  include  persons  not  members  of  the  Board,  for  the  purpose  of  making  specific 
investigations  or  carrying  out  specific  and  temporary  projects,  the  chairman  in 
each  case  to  be  appointed  from  members  of  the  Board. 

IV.    METHODS 

1.  The  Board  shall  urge  the  importance  and  need  of  special  missionary  prep- 
aration as  emphasized  in  the  Report  of  Commission  V  to  The  World  Missionary 
Conference  of  1910. 

2.  The  Board,  through  its  Executive  Committee  and  its  officers,  shall  enter 
into  correspondence  with  similar  Boards  in  Europe,  with  Missionary  Boards,  with 
Theological  Seminaries  and  Colleges,  with  Missionary  Training  Schools,  with 
missionary  leaders  at  home  and  abroad,  and  with  institutions  for  special  mis- 
sionary preparation  on  the  field,  to  discover  both  what  is  being  done  and  what 
ought  to  be  done  for  the  best  equipment  of  the  missionary. 

3.  It  shall  maintain  correspondence  with  Missionary  Boards  for  the  purpose 
of  acquiring  information  and  aflfording  aid  in  the  adequate  preparation  of  pros- 
pective missionaries. 

4.  It  shall  be  ready  to  assist  young  men  and  women  who  desire  information 
and  advice  regarding  the  best  way  in  which  they  individually  may  acquire  the 
training  necessary  for  their  respective  forms  and  fields  of  missionary  service,  in 
harmony  with  the  policy  and  plans  of  the  several  Boards  concerned. 

17 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

5.  It  shall  be  ready  to  advise  with  the  officers  and  teachers  of  Theological 
Seminaries  and  Colleges  and  Special  Missionary  Training  Schools,  regarding  the 
subjects  and  methods  of  missionary  preparation,  to  help  them  in  finding  suitable 
teachers  or  lecturers. 

6.  It  shall  be  ready  to  advise  with  missionaries  on  furlough,  who  have 
strength  and  inclination  for  the  pursuit  of  studies  which  they  feel  important  for 
their  future  work,  as  to  the  best  manner  of  fulfilling  their  desire. 


V.    AMENDMENTS 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sions Conference  of  North  America,  provided  a  written  notice  shall  have  been 
given  to  The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  and  all  the  Boards  and  Societies  repre- 
sented in  the  Conference  at  least  three  months  in  advance. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  Constitution  provides  that  the  Board  of 
Studies  shall  be  appointed  by  and  be  re.sponsible  to  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sions Conference  of  North  America.  The  Committee  regarded  this 
as  vital.  The  candidates  are  to  be  trained  for  the  service  of  the 
Societies,  and  it  is  therefore  not  only  desirable  but  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  the  Board  of  Studies  should  be  kept  in  the  closest  possible 
touch  vi^ith  the  Societies,  that  its  membership  should  include  a  due 
proportion  of  their  administrative  officers,  and  that  The  Foreign  Mis- 
sions Conference  of  North  America,  which  is  composed  of  represen- 
tatives of  the  Societies,  should  have  full  control  of  the  Board — appoint- 
ing its  members,  choosing  its  Chairman  and  Secretary,  and  supervising 
its  work. 

To  avoid  delay  in  the  organization  of  the  proposed  Board,  The 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  1911  "empowered"  our  Committee 
"to  take  any  action  which  it  might  consider  desirable  for  the  creation 
of  such  a  Board."  We  have  therefore  constituted  the  Board,  so  that 
it  may  be  able  to  formulate  definite  measures  and  submit  them  to  The 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  1912.  The  task  of  selection  was  not 
easy,  for  the  Board  is  intended  to  serve  half  a  hundred  Boards  and 
Societies  of  Foreign  Missions,  a  number  of  interdenominational  agen- 
cies, several  kinds  of  educational  institutions  and  all  parts  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  It  was  manifestly  impossible  to  give  each 
of  these  many  interests  a  representative  without  making  a  Board  of 
impracticable  size.  We  could  only  bear  in  mind  the  principle  that  if 
the  Board  is  to  be  a  balanced  working  body  and  avoid  partial  views, 
it  must  be  a  composite  of  administrators,  educators,  specialists  in  cer- 
tain departments,  men,  women,  Canadians  and  Americans ;  and  that 
eaoh  member  must  be  a  recognized  authority  on  some  phase  of  the 

18 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOARD 

work  to  be  done.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  there  was  no  lack  of 
material  and  that  the  difficulty  was  to  keep  the  list  within  the  required 
limit.  The  result  of  our  study  was  the  selection  of  the  following, 
leaving  to  the  next  meeting  of  The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  the 
arrangement  of  their  terms  in  classes  in  accordance  with  section  3, 
paragraph  2  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D. 
Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.D. 
Professor  O.  E.  Brown,  D.D. 
Professor  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh,  Ph.D. 
Professor  Ernest  DeWitt  Burton,  D.D. 
Miss  Helen  B.  Calder 
Professor  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D. 
The  Rev.  Wm.  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D. 
Professor  Qiarles  R.  Erdman,  D.D. 
Luther  Halsey  Gulick,  M.D. 
The  Rev.  F.  P.  Haggard,  D.D. 
President  Henry  C  King,  D.D. 
Professor  George  W.  Knox,  D.D. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D. 
President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D. 
The  Rev.  R.  P.  Mackay,  D.D. 
President  W.  W.  Moore,  D.D. 
John  R.  Mott,  LL.D. 
President  E.  Y.  Mullins,  D.D. 
Principal  T.  R.  O'Meara,  D.D. 
President  C.  T.  Paul,  Ph.D. 
Dean  Wilford  L.  Robbins,  D.D. 
Professor  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross,  M.  A. 
Dean  James  E.  Russell,  LL.D. 
T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D. 
Mrs.  A.  F.  Schauffler 
The  Rev.  T.  E.  Egerton  Shore,  M.A. 
Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D. 
Professor  John  H.  Strong,  D.D. 
Mr.  F.  P.  Turner 
The  Rev.  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  D.D.. 
Miss  Addie  Grace  Wardle 
President  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D. 
The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson.  D.D. 

We  have  designated  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
to  act  as  Chairman  and  Mr.  F.  P.  Turner  to  act  as  Secretary  until  the 
next  meeting  of  The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America, 
when  officers  will  be  elected  according  to  section  3,  paragraph  4  of 
the  Constitution. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  addition  to  the  close  and  vital  relation 
which  the  constitution  and  personnel  of  the  Board  establish  between 
The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  and  The  Foreign  Missions  Con- 
ference of  North  America,  the  Conference  controls,  from  year  to  year, 
elections  to  membership  on  the  Board,  and  also  has  power  to  amend 

19 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

the  Constitution  to  meet  any  special  conditions  which  may  arise.  This 
preliminary  announcement  is  made  to  apprise  the  Boards  and  Societies 
represented  in  the  Conference  of  what  our  Committee^  has  done  in 
acting  upon  the  instructions  of  the  last  Conference. 

During  the  deliberations  of  our  Committee,  and  especially  during  a 
devotional  half  hour  conducted  by  Dr.  Mott,  the  truth  was  emphasized 
that  the  proposed  Board  of  Studies  must  serve  as  an  agency  for  the 
discovery  not  merely  of  a  more  efficient  and  intellectual  equipment  for 
future  missionaries  but  also  of  a  richer  spiritual  preparation  for  a 
service  which  is  supremely  spiritual  in  its  character  and  aim.  Only 
through  prayer  can  The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  realize  the  high 
ideals  of  its  appointment,  and  we  earnestly  invite  the  cooperation  and 
special  prayer  of  all  the  friends  of  Foreign  Missions  in  behalf  of  this 
movement  which,  appears  to  promise  so  much  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 

(Signed)     Arthur  J.  Brown,  Chairman 
Fred  P.  Haggard,  Secretary 
Thomas  S.  Barbour 
James  L.  Barton 
Harlan  P.  Beach 
Paul  de  Schweinitz 
Charles  R.  Erdman 
Alfred  Gandier 
W.  Henry  Grant 
Walter  R.  Lambuth 
Arthur  .S.  Lloyd 
Robert  P.  Mackay 
W.  Douglas  Mackenzie 
Alexander  McLean 
John  R.  Mott 

T.  H.   P.   SAH.ER 

T.  E.  Egerton  Shore 
Homer  C.  Stuntz 
Fen  NELL  P.  Turner 
Charles  R.  Watson 

Committee 

The  Acting  Executive  Committee  met  on  October  5th, 
191 1,  to  complete  the  plans  for  the  organization  of  the  Board 
of  Missionary  Studies.  The  Committee  outlined  a  pro- 
gram for  the  first  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board,  to  be  held  in 

20 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    BOARD 

New  York  City,  December  6th,  1911,  and  made  all  other 
necessary  arrangements  for  the  meeting,  which  is  reported 
in  full  below. 

In  January,  1912,  at  the  nineteenth  meeting  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Conference  of  North  America,  held  January  10-12 
at  Garden  City,  Long  Island,  the  program  of  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Studies  received  its  first  formal  consideration 
by  the  body  which  originated  the  Board.  After  a  thor- 
ough presentation  of  the  plans  of  the  Board  by  its  Chairman, 
President  Mackenzie,  they  were  fully  discussed  by  many 
members  of  the  Conference  and  given  official  endorsement. 
A  detailed  report  of  the  proceedings  may  be  found  in  pp. 
49-72  of  the  ''Report  of  the  Nineteenth  Conference  (1912)," 
issued  bv  the  Conference  itself. 


21 


THE    FIRST    ANNUAL    MEETING 

Held  in  New  York  City 
December  6,  1911 


MINUTES  OF  THE  FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING 

The  First  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Studies^  convened  at  10  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  December 
6th,  1911,  meeting,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  in  the  Board 
Room  of  the  Church  House  at  25  East  22nd  Street,  New 
York  City.  In  the  temporary  absence  of  the  Chairman  of  the 
Board,  the  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  Secretary,  Mr. 
Fennell  P.  Turner.  On  motion  of  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  it  was 
voted  that  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer  serve  as  temporary  chairman. 

The  following  members  were  in  attendance  at  the  meeting: 

Dr.  James  L.  Barton 
Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach 
Professor  E.  D.  Burton 
Miss  Plelen  B.  Calder 
Professor  Edward  W.  Capen 
Dr.  William  I.  Chamberlain 
Professor  C.  R.  Erdman 
Luther  H.  Gulick,  M.D. 
Dr.  Fred  P.  Hagg-ard 
Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd 
President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie 
Dr.  John  R.  Mott 
Principal  T.  R.  O'Meara 
President  C.  T.  Paul 
Dean  James  E.  Russell 
Dr.  T;  H.  p.  Sailer 
Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer 
Mrs.  A.  F.  Schauffler 
Dr.  T.  E.  E.  Shore 
Professor  John  H.  Strong 
Dr.  Homer  C.  Stuntz 
Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 
Miss  Addie  Grace  Wardle 
Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson 
Dr.  Wilbert  W.  White 

After  a  prayer  by  Professor  Charles  R.  Erdman,  the  pro- 
gram as  arranged  by  the  acting  Executive  Committee  was 
accepted  as  the  order  of  the  day.     Dr.  John  R.  Mott  made 

*  The  corporate  name   of   the    Board   was   altered   on   January    17,    1913,   to   its   present   form 
by    the    Foreign    Missions   Conference. 

25 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

the  introductory  address  on  "The  Great  Importance  of  In- 
creased Efficiency  in  the  Training  of  Missionaries  for  Their 
Task."  While  he  was  speaking,  President  Mackenzie  ar- 
rived and  took  the  chair.  At  the  close  of  Dr.  Mott's  address 
the  Chairman,  Dr.  Mackenzie,  addressed  the  Board  on  "The 
Need  of  Special  Missionary  Preparation,  as  illustrated  in 
the  Correspondence  of  Commission  Five  of  the  World  Mis- 
sionary Conference." 

After  prayer  by  Dr.  James  L.  Barton  of  Boston,  a  series 
of  short  addresses  were  delivered  in  accordance  with  the  for- 
mal program: 

The  Need  of  the  Study  of  Education  in  the  Training  of  Mission- 
aries 

Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  New  York 

Educational  Secretary  of  the  Boa'd  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

The  Language   Study  of   Missionary  Candidates  Before   Going 
to  Their  Field 

Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  New  Haven 

Professor  of  Missions  in  the  Yale  School  of  Religion. 

The  Necessity  of  a  Board  of  Missionary  Studies 

(a)  As  seen  by  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards 

Dr.  James  L.  Barton,  Boston 

Foreign  Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions. 

Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  New  York 

Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

Dr.  T.  E.  Egerton  Shore,  Toronto,  Can. 

Foreign  Secretary  of  the  Canadian  Methodist  Board. 

(b)  As  seen  by  the  Foreign  Missionary 

Dr.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  New  York 

Foreign  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America,  formerly  a  missionary  in  India. 

Dr.  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  New  York 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  formerly  a  missionary  in  the 
Philippines. 

(c)  As  seen  by  Students  of  Missions 

Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton,  Chicago 

The  University  of  Chicago. 

President  Wilbert  W.  White,  New  York 
The  Bible  Teachers'  Training  School. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Mott,  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick  of  the  Rus- 
sell Sage  Foundation,  was  invited  to  address  the  Board  inf  or- 

26 


MINUTES    OF    FIRST    ANNUAL    MEETING 

mally  in  regard  to  instruction  on  matters  of  health,  on  the 
examination  of  missionary  candidates  and  on  the  service  of, 
medical  missionaries  at  home  and  on  the  field. 

Dr.  Henry  T.  Hodgkin,  Secretary  of  the  Friends'  Foreign 
Missionary  Association  of  England,  and  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Study  for  Great  Britain,  was  introduced  and  in- 
vited to  address  the  meeting. 

It  was  reported  by  the  acting  Secretary  that  the  following 
persons  had  accepted  membership  in  the  Board : 

The  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D. 
Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.D. 
Professor  O.  E.  Brown,  D.D. 
Professor  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh,  Ph.D. 
Professor  Ernest  DeWitt  Burton,  Ph.D. 
Miss  Helen  B.  Calder 
Professor  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D. 
The  Rev.  Wm.  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D. 
Professor  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.D. 
Luther  Halsey  Gulick,  M.D. 
The  Rev.  F.  P.  Haggard,  D.D. 
President  Henry  C.  King,  D.D. 
Professor  George  W.  Knox,  D.D. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D. 
President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D. 
The  Rev.  R.  P.  Mackay,  D.D. 
President  W.  W.  Moore,  D.D. 
John  R.  Mott,  LL.D. 
President  E.  Y.  Mullins,  D.D. 
Principal  T.  R.  O'Meara,  D.D. 
President  C.  T.  Paul,  Ph.D. 
Dean  Wilford  L.  Robbins,  D.D. 
Professor  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross,  M.A. 
Dean  James  E.  Russell,  LL.D. 
T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D. 
Mrs.  A.  F.  Schaufifler 
The  Rev.  T.  E.  Egerton  Shore,  M.A. 
Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D. 
Professor  John  H.  Strong,  D.D. 
Mr.  F.  P.  Turner 
The  Rev.  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  D.D. 
Miss  Addie  Grace  Wardle 
President  Wilbert  W.  White.  Ph.D. 
^  The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D. 

27 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

On  motion  the  Executive  Committee  was  directed  to  divide 
-the  members  into  three  groups  (in  accordance  with  the  sec- 
ond paragraph  of  the  third  section  of  the  Constitution),  with 
terms  of  office  expiring  respectively  in  one,  two  and  three 
years  (viz.,  in  1913,  1914  and  1915). 

The  following  officers  were  elected  for  1912,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  at  its  meeting 
in  January,  1912: 

Chairman,  Dr.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie. 
Secretary,  Fennell  P.  Turner. 

The  acting  Executive  Committee  then  made  its  report 
on  a  plan  of  organization.  This  proposal  was  discussed  at 
great  length  and  the  following  decisions  were  reached : 

1.  That  the  headquarters  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Studies  should  be  located  in  New  York  City. 

2.  That  a  permanent  paid  officer,  to  be  known  as  the 
Director  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies,  should  be 
secured  as  soon  as  possible. 

3.  That  the  budget  of  the  Board  should  include  the  sal- 
ary and  traveling  expenses  of  the  Director,  office  rent,  furni- 
ture, stenographer  and  clerk,  postage,  stationery,  printing  of 
reports,  the  traveling  expenses  of  the  members  of  the  Board 
for  the  annual  meeting  and  the  expenses  of  the  committees 
appointed  by  the  Board. 

4.  That  the  committee  organization  of  the  Board  be 
referred  to  its  Executive  Committee  for  consideration  and 
completion. 

On  behalf  of  the  Committee  (W.  D.  Mackenzie,  J.  R.  Mott, 
R.  E.  Speer  and  F.  P.  Turner)  which  had  been  appointed  by 
the  acting  Executive  Committee  to  look  for  and  nominate  a 
man  as  Director  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies,  Dr. 
W.  D.  Mackenzie  reported  that,  although  much  time  and 
thought  had  been  given  to  the  matter,  the  Committee  was  not 
in  position  to  present  a  nomination. 

28 


MINUTES    OF    FIRST    ANNUAL    MEETING 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Speer  the  Committee  was  discharged 
and  the  matter  of  nominating  a  Director  was  referred  to  the 
Executive  Committee. 

The  budget  needed  for  the  Board  and  the  best  method  of 
raising  it  was  discussed  at  length.  The  matter  was  finally 
referred  to  the  Executive  Committee  with  full  power.  The 
Committee  was  instructed  to  confer  regarding  the  matter 
with  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  of  the  Foreign 
Missions  Conference  at  its  meeting  to  be  held  on  Decem- 
ber 6th. 

The  Committee  on  Nominations  reported,  through  its 
Chairman,  Dr.  John  H.  Strong,  the  following  list  of  nomi- 
nations for  the  year  1912: 

For  Officers : 

Chairman,  President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie ;  Honorary  Secre- 
tary, Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner. 

For  the  Executive  Committee  : 

Dr.  James  L.  Barton,  Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton,  Dr.  William 
I.  Chamberlain,  Professor  Charles  R.  Erdman,  President  W. 
Douglas  Mackenzie,  Mrs.  A.  F.  Schauffler,  Dr.  T.  E.  Egerton 
Shore  and  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner. 

By  a  rising  vote  the  Board  thanked  the  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  for  its 
hospitality. 

The  Chairman  then  led  in  prayer,  after  which  the  Board 
adjourned. 


29 


THE   ADDRESSES    DELIVERED    AT    THE 
ANNUAL    MEETING   OF    1911 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  INCREASED  EFFICIENCY 

IN  THE  TRAINING  OF  MISSIONARIES 

FOR  THEIR  TASK 

Dr.  John  R.  Mott 

On  my  first  tour  to  mission  lands,  many  years  ago,  I  gained 
the  very  definite  impression  that  there  was  need  of  a  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  missionaries  sent  out,  in  order  that 
the  Christian  Church  might  insure  the  prompt  preaching  of 
the  gospel  over  the  whole  of  the  unevangelized  world.  On 
my  second  visit,  some  years  later,  the  problem  of  the  indig- 
enous church  weighed  upon  my  heart  and  I  returned  home 
feeling  that  we  must  spare  no  pains  to  develop  a  native  lead- 
ership which  might  be  adequate  to  the  tremendous  evange- 
listic and  organizing  tasks  of  the  coming  generation.  My 
recent  tour  has  not  caused  me  to  minimize  in  any  respect  the 
importance  of  keeping  the  ranks  of  our  missionaries  from 
depletion.  I  would,  on  the  contrary,  advocate  a  vast  enlarge- 
ment of  the  number  of  those  who  are  so  indispensable  to  the 
true  success  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  Nor  have  I  altered 
my  judgment  regarding  the  strategic  importance  of  the 
steady  development  of  a  self-reliant,  self-governing,  self- 
defining  native  church  which  will  gradually  assume  the 
responsibility  for  the  Christianization  of  its  own  territory. 
Yet  I  realize  today  that,  in  my  own  thinking,  the  adequate 
training  of  our  missionaries  seems  at  least  one  of  the  supreme 
problems,  if  not  the  foremost  one,  faced  at  the  present 
time  by  the  Christian  churches  who  believe  in  missionary 
aggressiveness. 

I  have  been  deeply  interested  by  the  fact  that,  when  the 
results  of  the  world-wide  investigations  made  by  the  eight 
commissions  appointed  by  the  World  Missionary  Confer- 
ence at  Edinburgh  were  collated,  it  was  very  evident  that  the 
conclusions  of  each  commission  converged  upon  the  need  of 
increased  efficiency  in  missionary  preparation.     Commission 

33 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

I  not  only  indicated  the  huge  areas  of  unoccupied,  often 
unexplored,  territory  throughout  the  mission  world,  but 
described  the  unsatisfactory  and  largely  ineffective  occu- 
pancy of  the  very  fields  which  missionary  Societies  have  long 
been  cultivating.  It  declared  repeatedly  that  missionary  can- 
didates must  receive  a  more  efficient  specific  training  for  the 
fields  which  they  are  to  enter,  a  training  which  will  enable 
them  to  anticipate  its  conditions  and  its  needs.  When  we 
reflect  upon  the  astonishing  difference  between  conditions  in 
Mohammedan  lands  and  those  in  Japan,  the  need  of  special- 
ized preparation  to  meet  those  conditions  is  evident. 

Commission  II,  in  its  interesting  study  of  the  church  and 
the  field,  pointed  out  the  rapid  growth  of  the  indigenous 
churches  in  independence  and  activity,  and  called  attention 
to  the  development  of  a  certain  restiveness  against  entire 
control  by  a  Christianity  which  those  churches  regard  as  for- 
eign. These  tendencies  impose  upon  the  mission  forces  a 
delicate  and  difficult  task,  since  their  leadership  must  con- 
tinue, if  disaster  is  not  to  overtake  these  unestablished 
churches.  The  educated  men  and  women  of  each  Christian 
community  must  be  prepared  to  lead  their  churches  toward 
real  and  competent  independence.  Such  a  task  demands 
broad-minded,  able,  thoroughly  trained  missionaries,  who  are 
equipped  to  deal  wisely  and  in  friendly  fashion  with  their 
brethren  on  the  field. 

Commission  III  was  concerned  with  the  work  of  mission- 
ary education  as  a  part  of  the  great  process  of  training  the 
minds  of  those  nations  with  whom  missionary  work  is  con- 
cerned, in  which  process  literature  is  of  supreme  importance. 
The  rapid  increase  of  Western  modes  of  education  on  a 
purely  secular  basis  throughout  the  stronger  non-Christian 
nationalities  demands  a  parity  of  standards  and  ability  on  the 
part  of  the  missionary  educator.  The  influencing  of  the  edu- 
cated classes  among  Christians  and  non-Christians  alike  calls 
for  a  degree  of  literary  ability  very  rarely  found.    These  are 

34 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

among  the  outstanding  problems  today  of  Christian  educa- 
tion and  call  for  missionaries  unusually  equipped  to  meet  the 
critical  questionings  of  the  keenest  minds  of  the  Orient. 

Commission  IV,  which  dealt  with  the  missionary  message 
to  non-Christian  lands,  emphasized  the  fresh  mastery  of  the 
non-Christian  religions,  which  is  called  for  at  the  present 
time.  This  mastery  is  valuable  in  two  directions:  In  the 
first  place,  a  genuine  sympathy  toward  the  elements  of  truth 
and  reality  in  these  religions,  such  a  sympathy  as  grows  out 
of  exact  and  detailed  knowledge,  is  absolutely  essential  to  all 
fair  dealing  with  the  ethnic  faiths.  No  permanent  progress 
can  be  made  by  those  whose  attitude  is  unalterably  hostile. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  missionary  must  continually  beware 
of  what  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  of 
today,  the  tendency  to  drift  into  a  religious  syncretism.  We 
are  liable,  while  endeavoring  to  improve  and  to  estimate  with 
frankness  and  fairness  the  religious  views  of  non-Christian 
nations,  to  substitute  for  those  religions  something  which, 
while  it  may  be  higher,  is  certainly  not  true  Christianity. 
The  missionary  who  is  to  be  both  properly  sympathetic,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  positively  Christian,  requires  a  comprehen- 
sive and  detailed  intellectual  training. 

Commission  V  gave  itself  to  the  study  of  special  mission- 
ary preparation,  indicating  what  has  already  been  accom- 
plished, and  emphasizing  that  which  still  needs  to  be  achieved. 
Its  principal  recommendation  was  the  organization  of  boards 
of  study  in  Great  Britain  and  in  this  country.  Of  that  recom- 
mendation this  Board  is  the  immediate  outcome.  Let  us  hope 
that  it  will  be  a  practical  and  efficient  embodiment  of  the  aims 
so  strongly  stressed  by  the  Commission  and  by  the  Conference. 

One  who  reads  the  findings  of  Commission  VI,  which 
treated  of  the  home  base,  is  reminded  that  the  home  churches 
are  reaching  today  a  new  stage  of  development  in  their  view 
of  the  world-wide  task  which  is  before  them.  Today  as  never 
before  our  mission  Boards  are  commanding  the  confidence  of 

35 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

great  educators,  men  of  large  affairs,  and  influential  pastors. 
In  order  to  maintain  the  confidence  and  enthusiasm  of  such 
as  these,  the  missionary  must  be  trained  to  invite  their  respect 
and  trust. 

Commission  VII,  on  the  relation  of  missions  to  govern- 
ments, discussed  a  very  significant  and  perplexing  group  of 
problems.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  difficulties  placed  in 
the  way  of  missions  by  governments  will  grow  less  as  time 
goes  on.  Yet  the  necessity  for  diplomatic  skill  on  the  part  of 
the  missionary  will  never  cease,  and  that  confidence  in  his 
wisdom  which  is  developed  by  his  breadth  of  mind  and  far- 
sightedness will  depend  greatly  on  the  breadth  of  the  mis- 
sionary's education  and  the  range  of  his  training. 

Commission  VIII,  on  cooperation,  offers  perhaps  the 
widest  field  for  the  exercise  of  judgment  and  breadth  of  mind 
on  the  part  of  each  individual  missionary.  No  greater  argu- 
ment could  be  given  for  the  increase  in  the  efficiency  of  mis- 
sionary training  than  the  necessity  of  having  men  and  women 
who  are  large  enough  to  get  together. 

Thus  every  one  of  these  eight  Commissions  focuses  on  the 
one  need  of  increased  efficiency  in  missionary  preparation. 
No  more  important  work  is  entrusted  to  any  Board  in  North 
America  or  in  Great  Britain  than  has  been  allotted  to  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Studies.  The  work  of  this  Board  will 
be  just  as  important  to  the  home  base  as  to  the  foreign  field, 
and  will  aft'ect  the  efficiency  of  the  older  missionaries  almost 
as  directly  as  that  of  the  candidates  who  are  looking  forward 
to  the  field.  In  my  judgment,  the  Foreign  Missions  Con- 
ference has  acted  wisely  in  selecting  a  group  of  men  and 
women  for  its  membership  who  represent  a  wide  variety 
of  specialized  experience  and  ability.  To  secure  the  greatest 
efficiency  in  the  working  of  the  Board,  it  would  seem  desir- 
able to  discover  a  director.  Let  us  hope  that  this  will  be  an 
achievement  of  the  early  future.  Meanwhile,  we  can  be  dis- 
covering the  widest  lines  along  which  to  do  our  work. 

36 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

If  we  wish  to  achieve  large  results  in  this  vital  work  to 
which  we  have  set  our  hands,  we  must  be  prepared  to  pay 
the  price  of  success.  This  I  would  formulate  in  three  ways : 
First,  we  must  emphasize  thoroughness  and  efficiency  at 
every  stage  of  the  process  before  us.  Our  motto  must  be 
"non  multa  sed  multnm,"  We  must  reach  out  and  enlist  in 
this  work  the  most  productive  minds  in  our  country  and  on 
the  field.  When  the  leaders  of  thought,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  realize  the  purposes  which  we  cherish  and  the  ideals 
which  we  hope  to  maintain,  they  will  gladly  do  their  utmost 
in  cooperation  with  us.  Again,  our  work  is  not  merely  to  be 
loyal  to  the  past  and  to  study  thoroughly  the  results  of  ex- 
perience. It  is  rather  to  courageously  interpret  that  past  in 
terms  of  an  efficient  future.  Thirdly,  we  must  therefore  set 
ourselves  to  do  original,  constructive  work  which  will  aim  as 
never  before  to  deal  with  the  involved  problems  of  Christen- 
dom in  frank  and  open  fashion.  This  will  mean  the  carry- 
ing out  of  our  plans  on  an  international  basis.  We  will  make 
a  mistake,  if  we  evolve  our  results  out  of  the  experience  of 
North  America  alone.  They  must  reflect  the  matured  think- 
ing of  the  missionary  world.  They  must  represent  an  in- 
telligent consideration  of  all  the  facts  there  are  and  a  fear- 
less organizing  of  them  into  the  interests,  not  of  any  one 
group  of  thinkers  or  actors,  but  into  those  of  the  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  alone. 


THE  NEED  OF  SPECIAL  MISSIONARY 
PREPARATION 

President  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  all  present  that  one  of  the  eight 
Commissions  appointed  to  report  to  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  at  Edinburgh,  1910,  investigated  the  subject  of 
"The    Preparation   of    Missionaries."    The    report   of   this 

37 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

Commission  has  been  published  as  Volume  V  in  the  reports 
of  that  Conference.  The  Commission  concluded  its  report 
of  facts  and  ideals  by  recommending  the  appointment  in 
Great  Britain  of  a  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  whose  func- 
tion it  would  be  to  deal  promptly  with  the  situation  which  the 
report  had  disclosed  and,  if  possible,  to  create  institutions  or 
direct  movements  towards  the  establishment  of  a  higher 
standard  of  missionary  preparation. 

I  make  it  a  rule  in  speaking  on  this  subject  always  to  utter 
a  warning  against  undue  depreciation  of  the  actual  stand- 
ards set  or  appointed  in  the  past.  No  one  can  consider  the 
great  work  of  one  hundred  years  which  has  actually  been 
accomplished,  or  think  of  the  great  scholars  and  statesmen 
and  evangelists  who  have  appeared  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe  among  the  missionaries  of  the  gospel,  and  yet  speak 
with  scorn  or  contempt  of  the  education  which  these  men  in 
some  way  achieved. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  must  frankly  recognize  the  fact  that 
the  work  on  every  field  is  becoming  year  by  year  more  com- 
plicated and  more  difficult.  The  very  success  of  missionary 
work,  the  enlightenment  of  the  non-Christian  world  with 
Western  civilization,  and  the  methods  of  Western  general 
education  are  changing  the  whole  situation.  No  longer  can 
missionaries  think  of  themselves  as  the  best  educated  men  in 
many  of  the  communities  where  they  are  at  work.  In  Japan 
and  India — and  it  will  soon  be  the  case  also  in  China  and  in 
Africa,  as  well  as  in  Turkey — the  institutions  of  secular 
education  are  developing  or  will  develop  with  extraordinary 
rapidity  and  the  missionary  will  find  himself  confronted  with 
large  bodies  of  educated  people,  whose  knowledge  is  at  least 
as  wide  as  his  own,  and  whose  power  to  deal  with  the  re- 
ligious problems  of  the  day  is  equal  to  that  of  similar  persons 
on  the  home  field.  It  is  in  view  of  this  situation  that  Com- 
mission V  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  received,  even  from 
the   missionaries    themselves,    urgent    demands    for   higher 

38 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

Standards  of  preparation.  It  reported  that  ''the  ideal  intel- 
lectual standard  set  forth  by  the  missionary  Societies,  espe 
cially  in  their  printed  papers,  is  without  exception  high.  In 
some  cases  it  might  be  called  prohibitive.  There  is  a  desire 
to  obtain  the  very  best."^  But  it  also  reported  a  startling 
"contrast  between  the  standard  in  use  and  the  requirements 
of  the  field,  as  stated  by  the  missionaries  themselves."  In  an 
official  summary  of  evidence  from  thirty-six  missionaries 
belonging  to  eighteen  Societies,  all  but  three  being  British, 
the  statement  is  deliberately  made,  "There  is  universal  agree- 
ment that  the  intellectual  standard  is  not  high  enough."^ 
The  Commission  reported  that  the  whole  subject  might  well 
be  divided  into  two  main  divisions,  general  or  professional 
training,  and  special  missionary  preparation. 

1.  General  or  Professional  Training. — In  this  connec- 
tion the  main  attention  was  concentrated  upon  the  training 
of  the  ordained  missionary.  It  was  definitely  stated  that 
the  missionaries  themselves  unanimously  demand  that  there 
shall  be  no  lowering  of  the  standard  below  the  level  of  the 
home  ministry.  They  even  went  further,  a  large  number, 
at  least,  of  the  most  able  and  important  missionaries  agree- 
ing "that  it  is  extremely  important  that  ordained  mission- 
aries should  receive  the  same  theological  training  as  is  given 
to  candidates  for  the  home  ministry."''* 

Throughout  the  missionary  fields  where  education  is  al- 
ready well  advanced  there  must  be  no  suspicion  that  the  or- 
dained missionary  has  had  a  ministerial  education  inferior 
to  that  considered  essential  to  similar  work  in  his  own  land. 
Any  suspicion  of  this  sort  will  awaken  resentment  and  dis- 
trust. Moreover,  in  some  of  these  countries,  as  in  Turkey, 
Japan  and  India,  theological  seminaries  are  growing  rapidly 
to  great  efficiency  in  the  training  of  the  native  ministry. 
Their  standards,  while  different  in  some  respects  from  ours, 

^Report   of   Commission    V    on   The    Preparation    of    Missionaries,    p.    17. 
^U.  ib.  p.   18. 
'  Id.  ib.  p.  65. 

39 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

yet  are  high,  enabling  them  to  judge  very  quickly  of  the 
professional  standing  and  efficiency  of  the  man  whom  we 
send  out  to  cooperate  with  them  who  should  surely  be  an 
example  of  ministerial  efficiency  in  the  building  up  of  the 
native  churches. 

A  dear  friend  of  mine,  now  dead,  who  was  for  many  years 
a  missionary  in  India,  told  me  that  when  he  went  out  there 
thirty  years  ago,  one  missionary  Board  which  had  many  or- 
dained men  on  its  field  was  notorious  for  the  poor  education 
given  to  its  missionaries.  My  friend  said  that  these  men, 
though  earnest  and  zealous,  were  felt  to  be  a  very  great 
hindrance  to  the  cause  of  Christianity,  and  great  difficulty 
was  found  in  any  attempt  at  cooperation  with  them.  During 
the  last  thirty  years  a  very  great  change  has  been  wrought 
in  the  quality  of  that  very  mission,  with  the  result  that  their 
success  is  greater  and  that  they  contribute  valuable  elements 
to  the  life  of  the  churches  in  those  regions.  No  more  telling 
or  eloquent  evidence  could  be  given  of  the  different  results 
obtained  by  an  ordained  missionary  with  a  poor  professional 
training,  and  by  one  who  has  passed  through  an  adequate 
curriculum  in  the  home  land. 

The  Commission  also  called  attention  to  another  field  of 
professional  work,  namely,  that  of  education.  Admittedly 
a  very  large  part  of  missionary  work  must  henceforth  be 
educational  in  character.  Not  only  do  the  ordained  mission- 
aries find  themselves  involved  in  this  work,  but  colleges  and 
schools  of  all  kinds  are  being  rapidly  established  and  multi- 
plied in  strength,  which  require  an  increasing  number  of 
men  and  women  as  teachers  and  professors  who  are  experts 
in  their  various  subjects.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that 
a  very  large  proportion,  if  not  the  majority,  of  the  women 
missionaries  are  engaged  in  work  which  is  more  or  less  dis- 
tinctively educational  work.  The  evidence  from  the  mis- 
sionary fields  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  persons  engaged  in  education  have  had  any 

40 


.    THE  FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING 

professional  training  for  such  work.  A  few  have  had 
normal  school  training.  Some  have  taken  pedagogy  and 
psychology  in  their  college  or  university  courses,  but  the 
number  of  these  is  as  yet  very  small  indeed,  and  the  courses 
have  too  often  been  brief  elective  courses,  hardly  affording 
a  sound  and  real  grounding  for  their  life  work. 

The  Commission  calls  attention,  therefore,  to  the  fact  that 
this  phase  of  missionary  labor  must  be  treated  more  seri- 
ously. All  who  are  appointed  to  teach,  especially  those, 
whether  ordained  or  unordained,  who  are  put  at  the  head 
of  schools  of  any  kind,  ought  to  receive,  before  they  under- 
take their  work,  adequate  training  in  modern  educational 
principles  and  methods.  The  Commission  even  went  the 
length  of  saying  that  if,  as  must  often  be  the  case,  an  or- 
dained man  is  appointed  head  of  a  school,  he  ought  not  to  be 
allowed  to  begin  his  work  until  he  has  taken  a  year  in  the 
home  land  of  special  study  along  these  lines. 

The  Commission  did  not  offer  much  criticism  of  the  pro- 
fessional training  of  medical  missionaries  or  of  industrial 
missionaries.  In  these  cases  it  was  felt  that  the  standard  had 
been,  as  a  rule,  reasonably  high,  and  in  the  case  of  medical 
missionaries  often  very  high  indeed. 

2.  Special  Missionary  Preparation. — A  very  large  part 
of  the  work  done  by  Commission  V  bore  upon  the  field  of 
what  is  called  Special  Missionary  Preparation.  Under  this 
new  phrase  the  Commission  included  all  those  subjects  which 
do  not  belong  to  the  field  of  professional  training,  but  which 
it  is  evident  that  every  missionary  must  some  day  study,  if  he 
is  to  do  his  work  efficiently.  This  whole  field  was  considered 
under  two  general  divisions:  (a)  All  the  subjects  bearing 
upon  the  language,  history,  religion,  customs,  etc.,  of  the 
missionary  field;  and  (b)  Those  subjects  which  are  required 
by  each  class  of  missionaries  to  supplement  their  profes- 
sional training.  Thus  the  ordained  missionary  requires  evi- 
dently some  study  in  psychology  and  pedagogy  and  sociology 

41 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

to  supplement  his  ordinary  professional  course.  The  educa- 
tional, medical  and  industrial  missionaries,  on  the  other 
hand,  all  require  some  training  in  the  Bible  and  in  Christian 
doctrine  to  supplement  what  has  been  their  professional 
training,  in  order  that  they  may  become  not  merely  medical 
men,  or  merely  educators,  but  men  who  are  missionaries, 
using  their  professions  as  instrumentalities  for  the  spread 
of  the  gospel. 

(a)  Specific  Training  for  the  Field. — In  the  first  group  of 
subjects  it  was  agreed  that  there  are  five  which  must  be  called 
necessary,^  viz: 

The  Science  and  History  of  Missions 
The  Religions  of  the  World 
Sociology 
Pedagogy 

The  Science  of  Language,  and  The  Languages  Required  on  the 
Field 

On  each  and  all  of  these  topics  the  report  proceeds  to  make 
clear  and,  I  believe,  convincing  statements.  No  one  can 
read  the  pages  which  discuss  these  subjects  without  feeling 
that  there  is  immense  need  of  scientific  work  at  these  points. 
The  argument  that  the  missionary  can  pick  these  up  more 
easily  on  the  field  than  at  home  is  probably  a  somewhat 
shallow  opinion.  In  all  these  subjects  the  young  missionary 
will  learn  more  quickly  and  understand  more  deeply  the 
phenomena  before  him  on  the  field,  if  he  has  been  scien- 
tifically drilled  in  the  principles  of  the  subject  before  he  goes 
out.  It  is  this  discipline  of  the  mind,  this  directing  of  the 
attention,  this  acquaintance  with  literature,  which  is  the  im- 
portant thing  for  the  man  who  goes  into  a  new  country. 
There  is  no  comparison  between  the  observations  which  a 
man  trained  in  these  subjects  will  make  within  the  first 
twelve  months  of  his  life  on  the  field,  and  those  which  will 
be  made  by  the  man  who  has  opened  no  book  and  received 
no  discipline  on  these  topics. 

*  Report  of  Commission  V  on  "The  Preparation   of  Missionaries,"  pp.   161,   162. 

42 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

The  one  subject  on  which  there  was,  and  may  still  be,  great 
divergence  of  opinion  is  that  of  language  study.  It  is  gener- 
ally admitted  that  those  that  are  called  the  literary  languages, 
like  Arabic  or  Sanskrit,  may  well  be  studied  at  home,  and 
that  such  study  will  be  of  immense  advantage  to  the  young 
missionary  as  he  begins  work  on  the  field.  Divergence  of 
opinion  begins  when  we  come  to  the  problem  of  training  in 
the  vernaculars  of  the  various  fields.  Many  missionaries 
hold  that  the  work  done  in  a  spoken  language  at  home  is  apt 
to  hinder  a  man  from  thoroughly  acquiring  the  language  on 
the  field.  This  is  said  to  be  specially  true  in  the  matter  of 
pronunciation.  His  ear  gets  wrong  impressions,  his  tongue 
forms  wrong  habits,  if  he  is  taught  to  speak  the  language 
before  he  goes  to  the  field,  and  these  defects,  it  is  alleged, 
are  apt  to  remain  with  him  through  life.  On  the  other  hand, 
two  considerations  are  worthy  of  note : 

(1)  Missionaries  themselves  confess  that  a  considerable 
number  among  them  never  learned  the  language  of  their  field 
thoroughly,  and  are,  therefore,  handicapped  even  through  a 
very  long  life,  in  their  attempts  to  preach,  teach,  or  argue 
with  the  people  among  whom  they  labor, 

(2)  An  impressive  mass  of  evidence  was  presented  in  a 
Blue  Book  issued  in  the  fall  of  1909  by  a  Special  Commis- 
sion of  the  British  Government,  which  had  for  a  consider- 
able period  been  investigating  the  problem  of  training 
imperial  civil  servants  in  the  languages  of  the  various  coun- 
tries in  which  they  have  been  appointed  to  serve.  This  royal 
commission  reported  that  European  governments  have  unani- 
mously concluded  that  young  men  can  be  best  trained,  even 
in  the  vernaculars  of  foreign  lands,  in  their  own  home  land, 
if  this  training  is  established  on  a  certain  broad  and  scientific 
basis.  It  requires  that  the  student  shall  be  scientifically 
grounded  in  the  grammar  and  literature,  if  any,  of  his  future 
language;  but  it  requires  also  that  a  native  speaker  of  that 
language  should  be  daily  at  his  side,  from  whose  lips,  and 

43 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

not  from  those  of  an  European,  he  may  get  the  exact  mode 
of  utterance.  It  is  presumed  that  he  is  being  trained  at  the 
same  time  in  the  modern  science  of  phonetics  which  will  en- 
able him  to  identify  minute  differences  of  pronunciation  and 
to  reproduce  them  himself. 

In  various  parts  of  the  world  serious  attempts  have  been 
made  in  recent  years  to  put  the  language  work  of  young  mis- 
sionaries upon  a  better  basis,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  room 
exists  for  the  establishment  of  strong  interdenominational 
schools  in  such  countries  as  India,  China  and  Japan  for  this 
purpose.  But  many  of  us  are  not  at  all  convinced  that  with 
even  such  schools  in  existence  the  best  work  cannot  be  done, 
after  all,  in  adequately  equipped  schools  in  the  home  land.  I 
believe  it  is  the  intention  of  the  British  Boards,  when  the  pro- 
posed Government  School  of  Oriental  Studies  is  established  in 
London,  to  make  use  of  that,  and  certainly  the  Germans  will 
continue  to  develop  the  efficient  schools  which  they  already 
possess  for  this  purpose.  In  America  we  are  behind  both 
Germany  and  Great  Britain  in  this  matter. 

(b)  Supplementary  Training. — I  must  pause  to  say  a 
very  few  words  on  the  necessity  for  supplementing  the  pro- 
fessional training  of  educators,  medical  missionaries,  and 
others,  with  training  in  the  Bible  and  in  other  topics  bearing 
upon  their  understanding  and  interpretation  of  Christian 
truth.  But  on  this  very  little  need  be  said.  It  is  abundantly 
proved  that  these  missionaries  have  often  been  inadequately 
prepared  for  this  side  of  their  life  work,  and  that  no  Board 
ought  henceforth  to  send  out  any  man  or  woman  who  has  not 
given,  if  possible,  a  year  to  the  study  of  these  supplementary 
subjects. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  we  may  assume  that  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Board  of  Studies,  of  which  we  who  are  present 
have  been  constituted  members,  is  justified.  This  work  can- 
not be  done  by  any  one  Board  or  by  any  one  school.  It  can 
only  be  done  on  a  very  broad  basis  by  the  cooperation  of  all 

44 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

concerned.  It  will  not  ofifer  any  substitute  for  the  other  values 
which  the  missionary  must  possess.  We  acknowledge  that 
every  missionary  must  have  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
that  an  educated  man  without  the  Spirit  will  do  less  work  than 
the  uneducated  man  with  the  Spirit  in  spreading  the  living 
gospel.  We  may  assume  that  the  great  bulk  of  missionary 
service  is  going  to  be  done  by  average  men,  and  that  leaders 
and  men  of  genius  cannot  be  created  by  any  system  of  educa- 
tion, but  are  produced  from  the  mysterious  fountains  of 
Nature  herself.  But  when  we  have  admitted  all  these  things, 
the  necessity  confronts  us  of  raising  the  whole  standard  of 
missionary  preparation.  The  Conference  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Boards  of  North  America  has  created  this  Board  of 
Missionary  Studies  and  has  called  us  individually  to  be  mem- 
bers of  it,  that  we  may  undertake  this  great  task.  It  will 
require  the  utmost  wisdom,  the  utmost  frankness,  the  devo- 
tion of  a  considerable  amount  of  time  and  energy  on  the  part 
of  us  all ;  but  I  think  that  each  one  of  us  will  feel  thrilled  by 
the  thought  that  he  may,  through  this  work,  contribute  to 
the  great  result  at  which  the  Board  aims,  namely,  the  in- 
creased efficiency  of  all  the  American  missionaries  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  I  trust  that  I  have  made  the  matter  so 
plain  that  everyone  who  has  come  with  some  hesitancy  upon 
this  Board  will  this  morning  feel  aroused  and  determined  to 
contribute  what  he  has  of  personal  enthusiasm  and  judgment 
and  ability  to  this  great  result. 


THE  NEED  OF  THE  STUDY  OF  EDUCATION  IN 
THE  TRAINING  OF  MISSIONARIES 

T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D. 

The  theme  assigned  to  me  for  discussion  deals  with  a  mat- 
ter of  great  importance.  We  all  know  the  extent  to  which 
educational  interests  factor  in  the  work  of  even  the  average 

45 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

missionary,  living  far  from  a  great  city.  I  wonder  whether 
we  have  begun  to  realize  how  important  it  is  that  these  in- 
terests should  be  handled  with  efficiency.  I  desire  to  discuss 
this  phase  of  the  subject  under  two  heads:  the  unsatisfactory 
situation  existing  today  and  the  imperative  demand  for  its 
improvement. 

1.  The  Unsatisfactory  Situation. — So  far  as  I  know,  no 
attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  collect  data  which  would  really 
indicate  the  present  educational  training  of  foreign  mission- 
aries. A  questionnaire  was  sent  out  from  my  office  some 
time  ago  containing  among  other  details  inquiries  on  this 
subject.  Between  thirty  and  forty  replies  were  received 
from  missionaries  who  were  perhaps  a  little  above  the 
average  in  training  for  educational  work  on  the  mission 
field.  These  replies  showed  that  over  one-third  of  them  had 
received  no  previous  training  whatever,  and  that  less  than 
one-fourth  had  had  both  educational  theory  and  practice. 
Of  the  remainder,  the  practice  was  sometimes  represented 
by  short  terms  of  teaching  which  had  been  undertaken  to 
keep  the  financial  pot  boiling,  and  the  theory  sometimes 
meant  no  more  than  an  ordinary  college  course  in  education. 

While  both  our  Boards  and  our  Missions  appreciate  the 
value  of  special  educational  training,  the  force  of  circum- 
stances has  accustomed  them  to  the  assignment  of  mission- 
aries who  lack  any  training  of  the  sort  to  school  and  college 
work  on  the  field,  so  that  it  may  be  said  that  such  training  is 
not  felt  to  be  absolutely  essential.  A  prominent  missionary, 
whose  voice  was  heard  often  and  weightily  at  the  Edinburgh 
Conference,  not  himself  an  educationalist,  was  expressing 
his  pleasure  at  having  secured  a  certain  young  woman  as  a 
teacher  in  one  of  his  schools.  I  asked  him  v/hether  she  had 
had  any  training  in  educational  theory  and  practice.  He 
looked  surprised,  and  replied  that  she  was  a  graduate  of  one 
of  the  leading  colleges  for  women.  I  intimated  that  I  did 
not  consider  that  in  itself  any  adequate  preparation  for  teach- 

46 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

ing  an  elementary  school.  Our  most  alert  educational  mis- 
sionaries are  emphatic  in  demanding  that  there  shall  be 
training  in  both  theory  and  practice  in  addition  to,  or,  if  both 
can  not  be  had,  even  instead  of,  a  college  course.  While  we 
value  the  mastery  of  subject  matter  which  a  good  college 
course  supplies,  we  are  forced  to  declare  that  its  methods  are 
not  those  which  should  be  copied  in  dealing  with  immature 
minds. 

2.  The  Dangerous  Slowness  of  Improvement. — The 
standards  are  slowly  rising,  but  to  keep  them  level  with  the 
increasing  demands  of  the  field  will  call  for  the  most  stren- 
uous efforts  of  such  a  body  as  this  Board  of  Missionary 
Studies.  There  is  an  entirely  new  interest  in  education 
throughout  all  of  the  non-Christian  world.  A  few  years  ago 
the  brown  and  the  yellow  man  were  settling  down  to  the  un- 
welcome conviction  that  the  white  race  was  to  be  their 
master.  A  white  skin  was  coming  to  be  accepted  as  a  fore- 
ordained badge  of  superiority.  Then  the  yellow  race,  which 
had  most  conspicuously  cultivated  education,  locked  horns 
with  the  white  race  which  had  most  conspicuously  neglected 
it,  and  the  result  set  the  minds  of  the  East  on  fire.  *Tt  isn't 
in  the  skin  at  all !  The  skin  has  nothing  to  do  with  it !  Give 
us  education  and  we  shall  be  a  match  for  any  color  on  earth !" 
has  been  their  conclusion.  Today  the  principal  demand  of 
the  East  is  for  education,  and  we  who  wish  permanently  to 
influence  the  Oriental  mind  must  concentrate  our  efforts 
upon  this  field.  The  governments  are  subsidizing  and  stand- 
ardizing and  broadening  their  educational  systems  in  a  way 
that  will  create  a  competition  that  has  been  in  many  areas 
hitherto  unknown.  There  never  was  a  time  in  the  history  of 
the  world  when  such  vast  masses  of  population  were  ex- 
changing so  rapidly  their  static  social  ideals  for  those  which 
are  progressive.  There  exists  no  past  standard  by  which  we 
can  measure  the  momentum  of  the  present  transformation, 
and  we  are  in  serious  danger  of  underestimating  the  great- 

47 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

ness  of  our  opportunity  and  the  educational  equipment  that 
will  be  needed  to  meet  it  successfully. 

The  foreign  missionary  educationalist  will  always  need 
greater  personal  resources  than  the  teacher  at  home.  He  has 
less  to  build  upon,  and  finds  less  in  the  social  system  he  faces 
to  supplement  his  efiforts.  In  reply  to  a  question,  mission- 
aries have  written  me  that  the  most  characteristic  difference 
between  their  pupils  and  American  children  is  in  the  absence 
of  the  foundations  which  Western  home  and  community  life 
supply.  The  modern  school  is  acknowledging  its  responsi- 
bility to  provide  for  its  children  the  essentials  which  the  home 
and  community,  under  changing  conditions,  are  failing  to 
provide.  The  school  in  the  Orient  must  either  repudiate  this 
ideal  or  face  a  problem  very  much  more  vast  and  complicated 
than  education  has  ever  attempted  before.  The  most  ex- 
perienced educators  in  this  country  would  recognize  in  the 
preparation  of  textbooks  and  the  framing  of  curricula  for 
missionary  schools  today  a  task  demanding  and  perhaps  out- 
reaching  their  best  abilities.  Yet  just  this  task  confronts  our 
educational  missionaries  in  the  field.  To  impose  it  upon  men 
and  women  who  are  ignorant  of  our  educational  heritage 
is  to  make  a  blunder  that  will  be  far-reaching  in  its  conse- 
quences. 

The  missionary  with  scanty  equipment  and  no  one  to  con- 
sult is  placed  in  an  educational  situation  far  more  complex 
and  difficult  than  any  known  to  us  at  home.  His  standards 
will  surely  be  followed  and  his  methods  imitated  by  his 
pupils.  The  mistakes  he  makes  are  thus  sure  to  be  multiplied 
and  handed  on  to  others. 

Bernard  Lucas  has  impressively  said,  "Against  Eastern 
quantity  we  have  nothing  to  set  save  Western  quality,  and 
the  whole  issue  turns  upon  the  superiority  of  that  quality." 
To  the  present  enthusiasm  of  the  East  for  education,  we  can 
not  afford  to  offer  a  quality  that  is  short  of  the  best. 


48 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING 

THE  LANGUAGE  STUDY  OF  MISSIONARY 

CANDIDATES  BEFORE  GOING  TO  THEIR  FIELDS 

Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.D. 

Before  discussing  the  topic  which  has  been  assigned,  per- 
mit me  to  make  two  observations.  The  first  is  that  per- 
sonally I  believe  that  a  vernacular  can  best  be  acquired  on 
the  field  in  the  interdenominational  language  and  training 
schools  which  I  hope  will  in  the  near  future  be  established  in 
the  great  language  areas  of  important  mission  fields.  That, 
however,  is  not  the  topic  before  us  for  consideration.  More- 
over, the  training  which  is  given  at  present  on  the  field  has 
not  reached  anything  like  its  ideal  development,  and  until 
this  is  accomplished  I  conscientiously  advocate  language 
teaching  of  a  definite  sort  here  in  the  home  land. 

The  second  preliminary  statement  has  to  do  with  the  facts 
as  we  find  them  in  those  training  schools  and  theological  in- 
stitutions at  home  which  have  responded  to  my  request  for 
information.  Only  sixteen  of  the  twenty-seven  written  to 
have  replied  to  the  questionnaire  sent  out.  Of  these,  six  are 
teaching  one  or  more  languages  to  missionary  candidates, 
two  or  three  are  ready  to  do  so,  but  have  had  no  students 
desiring  to  take  the  study,  and  two  or  three  have  arranged 
for  a  course  in  phonetics  for  intending  missionaries.  In  a 
number  of  institutions  the  idea  of  giving  such  preliminary 
instruction  was  heartily  approved,  but  since  proper  instruc- 
tors could  not  be  found  no  courses  have  been  offered.  In  a 
few  cases  instruction  has  been  given  by  persons  who  taught 
their  native  tongue  to  the  students;  while  in  others,  instruc- 
tion has  been  given  by  those  who  had  acquired  the  language 
taught  in  adult  life.  Of  all  the  communications  received, 
that  of  Professor  C.  T.  Paul,  President  of  the  College  of 
Missions  of  Indianapolis,  was  the  most  illuminating,  and  the 
work  done  there  seems  to  be  far  in  advance  of  anything  re- 
ported elsewhere. 

49 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

The  time  allotted  me  does  not  permit  of  anything  more 
than  the  merest  suggestion  of  a  discussion  of  the  topic.  Let 
me  introduce  it  by  quoting,  for  the  benefit  of  some  present 
who  may  not  have  read  it,  the  finding  of  Commission  V  as 
formulated  in  the  Report  presented  to  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  of  1910,  regarding  the  teaching  of  missionary 
languages  at  the  home  base : 

1.  ".The  language  should  be  studied  at  home  under  thoroughly  com- 
petent Western  teachers,  with  whom,  in  order  to  get  accurate  pronun- 
ciation, natives  in  residence  at  the  home  center  should  be  trained  to 
cooperate,  and  read  and  speak  with  the  students.  The  native  teachers 
should  be  taught  to  exercise  more  authority  and  greater  strictness  than 
they  are  apt  to  do  when  so  engaged  in  their  own  lands. 

2.  "The  study  of  the  language  under  such  conditions  could  be  pur- 
sued with  a  concentration  of  purpose,  in  an  atmosphere  of  scholarship, 
and  under  standards  of  excellence  which  are  all  very  hard  to  obtain 
on  the  field  itself. 

3.  "In  such  a  center  of  preparation  as  is  here  contemplated,  provi- 
sion should  be  made  on  an  ample  scale  for  the  thorough  study  of  other 
topics  included  in  our  description  of  special  missionary  preparation. 
They,  too,  would  be  presumably  taught  and  studied  with  a  degree  of 
excellence  hard  to  attain  abroad. 

4.  "It  is  urged  that  the  missionary  student  would  do  all  this  severe 
but  most  necessary  work  under  conditions  less  exhaustive  of  strength, 
in  a  climate  less  trying,  and  with  less  distracting  surroundings. 

"In  concluding  this  section,  the  Commission  finds  itself  unable  to 
determine  the  relative  merits  of  these  lines  of  argument.  The  a  priori 
reasonableness  lies  probably  with  the  first  set  of  considerations  and  in 
favor  of  giving  language  instruction  on  the  field  with  immensely  im- 
proved arrangements.  The  weight  of  experience  seems  to  lie  with  the 
second  set  of  considerations,  in  view  alike  of  what  German  linguists 
have  accomplished  and  of  evidence  presented  by  the  very  highest 
authorities,  specially  that  included  in  the  Treasury  Report." ' 

This  latter  testimony,  it  should  be  explained,  is  found  in 
Appendix  VIII  of  the  report  of  Commission  V.  A  number 
of  missionary  and  other  British  bodies  had  petitioned  the 
First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  to  institute  a  Government  inquiry 

1  Report  of  Commission  V  on  "The  Preparation  of  Missionaries,"  pp.   178-9. 

50 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

which  should  determine  whether  or  not  the  memorialists' 
unanimous  opinion  was  correct,  that  "the  preliminary  study 
of  Oriental  languages,  under  competent  teachers  and  accord- 
ing to  scientific  principles  at  home,  is  of  the  very  highest 
advantage  as  a  step  toward  future  proficiency."  The  emi- 
nent Orientalists  and  others  who  constituted  the  Committee 
reported  favorably  to  the  British  Government,  and  its  con- 
clusions were  later  endorsed  by  statesmen  and  administra- 
tors from  various  parts  of  the  Empire. 

Let  me  now  summarize  the  principal  suggestions  in  Pro- 
fessor Paul's  letter,  though,  if  it  were  not  longer  than  could 
be  read  in  the  time  allotted  me,  I  should  prefer  to  present  it 
in  extenso.  An  investigation  of  the  methods  and  results  of 
language  instruction  on  the  foreign  field,  as  well  as  the  ex- 
perience derived  from  a  sojourn  in  the  Far  East,  has  led  him 
to  believe  that  much  valuable  time  is  being  wasted,  and  that 
the  clear  and  effective  presentation  of  the  gospel  is  being 
hindered,  because  of  a  defective  language  policy  for  mission- 
aries in  course  of  home  preparation,  with  the  consequent 
handicaps  which  confront  them  when  set  to  learn  difficult 
languages  on  the  foreign  field. 

To  relieve  this  linguistic  problem,  Professor  Paul  aims  to 
create  in  the  student's  mind  a  scientific  and  historical  interest 
in  language  phenomena  through  lectures  on  the  science  of 
language.  Then  follows  a  thorough  course  of  phonetics, 
theoretical  and  practical,  based  upon  the  assumption  that 
any  person  with  normal  vocal  organs  can  reproduce  any 
sound  made  by  men  of  any  other  race,  provided  he  is  told 
precisely  how  the  sound  is  made.  Mere  imitation  may  lead 
him  astray,  and  as  native  teachers  of  foreign  tongues  can 
only  rely  upon  imitation,  errors  in  pronunciation  result. 
Important  languages  of  Eastern  and  African  fields  can  be 
used  for  illustrative  purposes.  Methods  of  studying  and 
teaching  languages  come  next  in  order,  and  in  connection 
with  the  latter  processes  the  student  should  have  practice  les- 

51 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

sons  in  teaching  men  of  various  nationalities.  With  this 
preparation,  students  may  enter  upon  a  two  years'  course  in 
certain  languages,  Hindu  and  Spanish  being  taught  now, 
with  others  to  follow.  Four  or  five  periods  per  week  will  be 
given  to  this  linguistic  study.  Thus  far  Professor  Paul's 
ideal  of  securing  trained  natives  of  the  various  mission  fields 
to  teach  their  native  tongues  has  been  only  partially  realized, 
though  he  hopes  that  this  will  be  accomplished  in  course  of 
time. 

Another  effort  in  the  direction  of  special  linguistic  and 
phonetic  preparation  has  been  repeatedly  before  the  mission- 
ary Societies  in  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference,  that  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Cummings,  a 
returned  missionary  from  India.  Thus  far  he  has  empha- 
sized phonetics,  and  a  very  good  system  of  learning  lan- 
guages by  objects  and  otherwise  seems  to  be  exemplified  in 
his  Hindi  manual.  Thus  far  no  extended  trial  of  this  system 
has  been  made  in  institutions  which  train  missionaries  in 
America. 

It  was  hoped  by  me  that  replies  to  a  series  of  questions 
coming  from  the  institutions  for  missionary  training  in 
North  America  would  furnish  ample  material  for  a  contri- 
bution to  the  subject  we  have  under  discussion.  So  little  has 
been  received  by  me  that  I  am  compelled  to  offer  a  few  gen- 
eralizations. I  must  confess  that  most  of  what  follows  comes 
out  of  some  experiments  tried  out  at  Yale  in  the  teaching  of 
the  Chinese  language,  as  well  as  out  of  inquiries  made  in  my 
last  tour  of  mission  fields.  Perhaps  I  would  better  present  it 
all  as  my  own  view  for  the  reason  stated. 

1.  As  to  the  Importance  of  Phonetics. — The  basal  work 
of  phonetics  is,  without  doubt,  important.  Yet  as  taught  in 
America  and  Europe,  phonetics  has  mainly  to  do  with  the 
Aryan  tongues,  with  guesses  at  languages  of  other  stocks. 
To  argue  from  India  to  China  is  perilous  for  a  teacher  of 
phonetics.    The  Bantu  languages  have  a  vast  amount  of  com- 

52 


THE   FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

mon  material,  but  when  the  phenomenon  of  clicks  is  to  be 
taught  only  a  small  section  affected  by  Hottentot  and  Bush- 
man peculiarities  can  supply  accurate  material.  In  fact,  it  is 
a  question  whether  certain  Arabic  gutturals  and  the  African 
clicks  can  be  successfully  reproduced  in  adult  life.  Worse 
still  is  it  for  a  teacher  of  phonetics,  who  has  never  heard  the 
Chinese  tones  in  their  complexity,  as  in  Canton  and  Foochow, 
or  in  their  simplest  form,  as  heard  in  the  Pekingese,  to 
describe  learnedly  just  how  the  voice  should  be  modulated  to 
produce  the  desired  results  in  Chinese. 

While  the  science  of  phonetics  has  its  limitations,  the  study 
should  not  be  ignored.  Many  missionary  languages  are  of 
the  Aryan  type,  and  such  are  capable  of  being  made  the  basis 
of  instruction;  though  the  refinements  of  pronunciation  in 
many  Indian  tongues  are  a  serious  problem  for  a  teacher  who 
has  never  heard  a  native  speak  those  languages.  Yet  great 
advantage  comes  from  such  discussions  of  phonetics  as  one 
finds  in  the  pages  of  Hempl,  Hoffman  and  Soames,  of  Sweet, 
Passy  and  Bahlsen,  of  our  own  Bell  of  "visible  speech"  fame, 
and,  particularly,  of  Professor  Meinhof  in  his  works  on  the 
Bantu  languages.  Victor's  Kleine  Phonetik  answers  all  the 
needs  of  the  ordinary  student,  while  his  fuller  work  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired.  Though  Sweet  criticises  the  use  of 
charts,  surely  help  of  a  very  real  value  can  be  derived  from 
the  phonetic  charts  of  Victor  and  Rambeau,  as  well  as  from 
Professor  Bell's  books. 

2.  The  Need  for  Better  Manuals  and  Methods. — It  is 
saying  little  to  assert  that  since  the  textbooks  prepared  for 
teaching  Occidentals  the  languages  of  mission  lands  are, 
almost  without  exception,  unscientific  in  their  basis,  so  any 
better  method  of  language  teaching  imparted  in  the  institu- 
tions for  missionary  training  will  make  an  advance  over  the 
past.  Missions  should  always  ask  for  the  best  and  not  be 
content  with  better  methods.  Just  here  the  cause  may  receive 
its  greatest  help  from  the  home  lands.    Masters  of  language 

53 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

teaching-  should  be  enabled  to  secure  in  or  from  mission  lands 
the  finest  speakers  and  writers  of  the  vernaculars,  who  are 
also  speakers  of  English  or  some  Continental  tongue.  With 
this  material,  the  expert  phonologist  and  the  equally  strong 
language  teacher  could  prepare  manuals  which  would  be  far 
superior  to  any  now  in  use.  The  grammatical  sections  need 
not  be  extensive  in  this  early  stage  of  mastery.  For  such  an 
achievement  the  authors  would  need  to  recast  material  fur- 
nished by  the  best  authorities  on  the  fields. 

But  here  again  we  face  a  present  lack.  To  bridge  it, 
improvement  can  be  secured  by  following  the  suggestions 
coming  from  various  methods  for  teaching  European  lan- 
guages. The  books  of  Sweet,  Bahlsen,  Victor,  Gouin  and 
others  contain  profitable  ideas  for  the  teacher's  use,  as  he 
employs  the  textbooks  now  in  vogue,  faulty  as  they  are.  If 
a  native  of  the  country  whose  tongue  is  taught  is  available, 
the  student  can  at  least  be  trained  to  pronounce  fairly  accu- 
rately, and  a  method  can  be  employed  which  will  enable  him 
to  hear  accurately  and  to  use  his  mind  to  ascertain  what  is 
being  said,  instead  of  depending  upon  such  crutches  as 
vocabularies  and  dry  textbooks.  He  should  also  be  required 
to  talk  from  the  outset,  as  well  as  to  collect  his  own  vocabu- 
lary and  to  classify  his  words,  idioms,  and  grammatical  data. 

3.  The  Best  Time  for  Language  Instruction. — Training 
institutions  should  have  a  good  reason  governing  the  adjust- 
ment of  their  teaching  periods.  They  do  not  propose  to  do 
more  than  give  the  candidate  a  start  in  language  acquisition 
and  to  impart  a  sound  method  of  linguistic  study.  It  is  a 
waste  of  time,  and  even  a  peril,  in  view  of  the  real  danger  of 
gaining  a  permanently  imperfect  pronunciation,  to  attempt 
to  give  prospective  missionaries  a  fuller  knowledge  of  their 
future  adopted  language.  This  being  accepted,  it  is  mani- 
festly advisable  to  mass  language  instruction  at  or  near  the 
close  of  the  course  of  study  in  America,  so  that  no  facility 
may  be  lost  by  a  long  interval  of  inattention.     One  or  two- 

54 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

hour  periods  per  week  for  the  last  year  are  far  less  valuable 
than  twice  that  number  of  hours  during  the  last  half  year  of 
training.  In  case  a  language  is  now  taught  two  or  three 
hours  per  week  during  two  years,  it  would  seem  to  be  more 
effective  to  double  the  number  of  hours  the  last  year  and  per- 
mit the  first  year  to  be  given  to  other  studies  which  will  not 
suffer  by  being  put  thus  early  in  the  course. 

4.     The  Study  of  the  Classical  Languages  of  the  Orient. — 
I  will  only  add  a  fourth  suggestion,  and  that  has  to  do  with 
the  classical  tongues  of  certain  mission  fields.     So  few  mis- 
sionaries know  anything  of  Sanskrit  and  Pali  that  the  liter- 
atures of  Hinduism  and  of  Buddhism  are  a  terra  incognita 
to  them.     Yet  they  are  liable  to  meet  cultivated  Hindus  or 
Burmans    at    any    time,    whose    responsiveness    might    be 
aroused,  if  the  missionaries  gave  evidence  of  knowing  even 
ever  so  little  of  their  sacred  tongues.    While  the  Chinese  clas- 
sical language  is  on  a  different  plane  altogether,  and  so  is 
hardly  open  to  discussion  in  this  connection,  current  Arabic 
is  enough  like  the  classical  to  make  it  desirable  for  the  mis- 
sionary to  Moslem  lands  to  study  the  best  works  in  Arabic, 
especially  the  Koran.    With  the  possible  exception  of  Arabic, 
which  probably  may  be  more  easily  mastered  in  Cairo,  these 
languages  are  more  readily  mastered  in  our  best  American 
universities  than  in  India  or  Ceylon.     It  may  be  asking  too 
much  to  urge  that  all  missionaries  to  the  countries  using 
those  classical  languages  be  expected  to  make  a  beginning  of 
their  mastery  here  in  America;  but  it  certainly  is  not  too 
much  to  ask  in  the  case  of  a  select  group  of  men,  who  go  out, 
for  example,  as  educationists.     If  every  mission  Board  in 
India  had  such  a  man  as  Johnson  of  Benares,  the  higher 
classes,  and  especially  the  Brahmans,  would  soon  be  moved 
by   Christian   knowledge   coming   to   them    through   minds 
capable  of  tingeing  it  with  Sanskrit  hues.     The  beginnings 
now  being  made  through  the  agitation  of  Bishop  Westcott 
and  others  in  India,  and  to  be  tried  out  at  the  new  institution 

55 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

at  Bangalore,  will  probably  be  seconded  by  the  realization  of 
the  similar  plans  of  Dr.  MacGillivray  and  others  in  Shanghai. 
Then  our  leading  missionaries  will  no  longer  be  guessing 
about  the  religions  which  they  come  to  leaven  and  largely  dis- 
place ;  they  will  have  some  genuine,  solid  knowledge.  At  the 
present  time  there  is  altogether  too  much  guess  work  about 
missionary  evaluation  of  Oriental  thinking,  and  this  will  con- 
tinue until  missionaries  become  imitators  of  Rammohun  Roy, 
who  learned  Hebrew  and  Greek  that  he  might  read  the  Bible 
in  the  original  languages  and  so  preach  with  a  proper  under- 
standing of  a  religion  which  he  desired  to  intelligently  esti- 
mate and  use  for  personal  blessing  and  for  his  Samaj. 

The  foregoing  represents  my  own  convictions  in  favor  of 
the  study  of  some  missionary  languages  before  going  out  to 
the  field.  Much  might  have  been  said  in  rebuttal  of  some  of 
the  positions  taken.  Much  more  ought  to  be  said  of  the  folly 
of  attempting  too  much  in  the  way  of  language  study  here  at 
home.  Very  much  needs  to  be  said  against  such  study  when 
it  is  incompetently  handled,  preparing  the  candidate  for  the 
lifelong  misuse  of  a  tongue  which,  if  used  with  accuracy  and 
grace,  is  a  savor  of  life  unto  life,  while,  if  it  is  used  haltingly 
and  incorrectly,  may  prove  a  real  stumbling  block  in  the  way. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  THE  BOARD   OF  MISSION- 
ARY STUDIES  AS  SEEN  BY  THE  FOREIGN 
MISSION  BOARDS 

The  Reverend  James  L.  Barton,  D.D. 

Since  this  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  is  the  direct  result 
of  the  demand  of  the  officers  of  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Societies  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  little  argument  is 
needed  to  show  the  necessity  as  viewed  either  by  the  mission- 
aries themselves  or  by  the  various  Societies. 

56 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 


In  reviewing  the  considerations  that  led  to  the  formation 
of  a  Board  of  Studies  we  note  the  following  facts : 

1.  Missionary  work  in  all  of  the  older  missions  is  no 
longer  a  simple  affair.  The  demands  made  upon  the  mission- 
aries are  varied  and  exacting.  We  can  not  now  send  out  a 
man  who  has  taken  a  general  college  course  followed  by  three 
years  of  theology  and  expect  him  to  take  general  and  effective 
charge  of  a  widely  extending  evangelistic  work,  to  become 
the  president  of  a  college,  and  the  professor  of  science  and 
languages,  or  of  philosophy,  ethics  and  history  in  that  col- 
lege, or  to  be  assigned  to  the  chair  of  church  history,  sys- 
tematic theology  and  Old  and  New  Testament  exegesis  in  a 
theological  seminary,  to  manage  an  industrial  plant,  to  edit 
and  publish  a  vernacular  paper  or  magazine,  to  construct 
mission  buildings,  to  carry  on  negotiations  with  the  local  gov- 
ernment, and  to  do  the  work  of  each  and  all  of  these  depart- 
ments in  a  satisfactory  manner.  In  a  word,  the  grade  of 
work  demanded  of  the  missionary  at  the  present  time  is  such 
that  he  must  specialize,  which  necessitates  courses  in  prepa- 
ration which  will  equip  him  for  the  work  he  has  to  do.  We 
of  the  American  Board  are  feeling  this  to  such  an  extent 
that  we  now  have  a  man,  who  is  already  an  A.B.,  and  an 
M.A.,  matriculated  in  Oxford  University  in  special  prepa- 
ration for  college  work  in  India.  We  have  others,  equally 
well  educated,  who  are  now  pursuing  advanced  courses  in 
universities  in  this  country. 

2.  Our  missionaries  now  in  the  older  mission  fields  are  in 
contact  and  cooperation  with  native  colleagues  who  have 
won  university  degrees.  Some  of  these  coadjutors  have  spe- 
cialized in  different  departments  and  are  men  of  sound  learn- 
ing and  excellent  ability.  The  missionary  who  works  with 
them  must  be  equipped  in  every  way  to  command  confidence 
and  respect. 

3.  As  missionary  operations  have  enlarged,  it  has  been 
necessary  to  break  up  the  work  of  a  mission  into  departments, 

57 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

more  and  more.  One  missionary  does  not  attempt  to  do  a 
little  of  everything,  but  endeavors  to  become  especially  pro- 
ficient in  some  one  or  two  lines ;  as,  for  example,  educational 
missionaries  are  sought  and  appointed  to  that  particular  line 
of  work.  Even  within  that  class,  specialists  in  science,  his- 
tory, in  industrial  training,  in  kindergarten  work,  or  in  nor- 
mal training,  are  sought  and  commissioned  for  the  work  that 
lies  along  the  line  of  their  special  training.  Unquestionably, 
this  demand  for  specialization  will  increase. 

Missionaries  are  now  sought  with  special  training  and  fit- 
ness for  literary  work,  for  expert  leadership  in  great  social 
movements,  for  the  oversight  and  management  of  the  busi- 
ness affairs  of  a  mission  or  station,  for  their  mechanical  and 
architectural  ability,  and  for  their  diplomatic  skill  in  dealing 
with  government  ofificials.  These  suggestions  indicate  some 
of  the  many  special  and  even  distinguished  qualifications  that 
modern  organized  and  developed  missionary  enterprises  are 
demanding  and  that  missionary  Societies  must  provide. 
Noteworthy  among  these  are  the  men  and  women  who  are 
needed  as  leaders  in  all  countries  to  organize  and  conduct  the 
great  evangelizing  enterprizes  that  eventuate  in  strong  and 
properly  developed  native  Christian  churches  under  a  trained 
and  able  native  leadership. 

In  addition  to  this  training  of  specialists  in  a  great  variety 
of  departments  of  work  we  are  coming  reluctantly  to  realize 
that  for  the  ordinary  man  who  has  had  no  unusual  advan- 
tages, a  four  years'  college  course  followed  by  a  three  years' 
theological  course  constitutes  at  the  best  out  a  modest  equip- 
ment. Many  of  us  feel  that  for  most  of  our  candidates  we 
may  have  to  insist  upon  at  least  four  years  of  close  study 
after  finishing  the  A.B.  course.  A  considerable  percentage 
of  our  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  already  do  this. 

In  the  training  now  received  by  the  ordinary  candidate 
seeking  appointment  we  find  that  there  is  a  great  lack  in 
(1)  pedagogical  training  and  equipment:  (2)  principles  of 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

sociology;  (3)  knowledge  of  the  non-Christian  religions  and 
their  relations  to  Christianity;  (4)  history  of  missions;  (5) 
theory  and  practice  of  missions;  (6)  knowledge  of  the  his- 
tory, people,  government,  religions,  characteristics,  etc.,  of 
the  countries  to  which  they  are  appointed;  (7)  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  tropical  diseases  and  medicine  upon  the  part  of  physi- 
cians appointed  to  tropical  countries;  (8)  understanding  of 
health  conditions  and  requirements  in  the  countries  to  which 
they  are  appointed. 

This  list  is  not  exhaustive  by  any  means.  We  are  con- 
vinced that  the  training  schools  from  which  our  candidates 
come  do  not  provide,  at  the  present  time,  courses  that  cover 
these  needs,  although  the  demands  upon  the  field  for  better 
prepared  men  and  women  are  rapidly  upon  the  increase.  We 
have  urged  the  creation  of  this  Board  of  Studies  that  in  some 
way  this  lack  may  be  made  up.  To  this  Board  we  turn  and 
ask  that,  in  some  way,  yet  to  be  discovered,  provision  may  be 
made  for  the  broader  and  more  effective  training  of  those 
who  go  out  as  representatives  of  the  best  educational  insti- 
tutions of  America. 

No  secretary  or  body  of  secretaries  can  give  sufficient  time 
and  attention  to  these  things.  We  need  here  the  counsel  and 
cooperation  of  the  best  educational  experts  in  America.  We 
will  call  upon  the  Board  of  Studies, 

( 1 )  for  information  as  to  where  this  special  training  can 

be  obtained; 

(2)  for  courses  of  reading  upon  pedagogy,  religions,  his- 

tory and  practice  of  missions,  sociology,  and  upon 
each  of  the  mission  countries; 

(3)  for   information  where  the  missionaries  upon   fur- 

lough can  go  to  secure  the  most  possible  by  way  of 
new  equipment  for  their  work ; 

(4)  for  assistance  in  organizing  in  the  great  language 

59 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

zones  of  mission  countries  interdenominational 
schools  where  opportunities  will  be  afforded  for 
new  missionaries  to  learn  the  vernacular  and  to 
acquire  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  country  and 
people. 

The  work  of  this  Board  can  be  of  incalculable  value  to  the 
work  of  missions,  greatly  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  mivS- 
sionary  force,  not  by  increasing  their  numbers  but  by  making 
every  missionary  more  effective. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MISSION- 
ARY STUDIES  AS  SEEN  BY  THE  FOREIGN 
MISSIONARY 

The  Reverend  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D. 

I  apprehend  that  the  primary  purpose  of  the  introduction 
of  this  phase  of  the  necessity  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Studies,  the  viewpoint  of  the  foreign  missionary,  is  for  com- 
pleteness of  statement.  From  the  missionary  point  of  view, 
the  question  is  long  since  determined,  as  evidence  from  the 
testimony  of  missionaries  gathered  in  the  Report  of  Commis- 
sion V  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  upon  The  Preparation 
of  the  Missionary,  one  of  the  issues  of  which  is  the  organ- 
ization of  this  Board. 

My  attention  has  recently  been  dravv^n  somewhat  closely 
to  the  Reports  of  Commissions  III  and  IV  upon  Christian 
Education  and  The  Missionary  Message,  and  I  have  been 
again  impressed  with  the  accumulation  of  evidence  gathered 
from  the  missionary  field  in  favor  of  the  main  thesis  which 
has  called  this  Board  into  being. 

For  example,  in  the  report  of  the  Commission  on  Christian 
Education  there  is  an  important  chapter  dealing  with  The 
Relating  of  Christian  Truth  to  Indigenous  Thought  and 
Feeling,  which  was  confessedly  based  upon  the  communi- 

60 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 


cations  received  from  the  mission  field,  the  conclusion  of 
which  is  inescapably  the  necessity  for  the  thorough  prepa- 
ration of  the  missionary  in  order  that  he  may  bring  about  this 
necessary  relation  more  effectively. 

Likewise,  in  the  report  of  the  Commission  on  the  Mission- 
ary Message,  the  chapter  which  presents  the  general  conclu- 
sions of  the  Commission,  calling  attention  to  the  latent  ele- 
ments of  truth  in  the  non-Christian  religions,  carries  with  it 
the  presupposition  which  is  again  the  thesis  which  we  are 
considering  today. 

The  chapter  in  the  Report  of  the  Commission  upon  The 
Preparation  of  Missionaries,  which  would  seem  to  deal  most 
directly  with  the  phase  of  the  subject  with  which  we  are  at 
this  moment  dealing,  namely,  the  one  containing  a  summary 
of  evidence  regarding  the  need  and  the  character  of  special 
missionary  preparation,  has  much  very  valuable  testimony 
bearing  upon  this  point  from  such  men  as  Dr.  Stewart  of 
Africa  and  Dr.  Gibson  of  China.  This  chapter  is  supported 
by  appendices  which  contain  the  answers  of  other  well- 
known  missionaries  to  the  questions  proposed  by  the  Com- 
mission, among  whom  is  Mr.  Farquhar  of  India.  Indeed,  all 
that  one  can  add  to  this  accumulation  of  evidence  is  in  the 
nature  of  personal  experience. 

Holding  for  the  moment  the  brief  for  the  missionaries,  I 
think  I  can  present  their  case  clearly  in  the  form  of  a 
syllogism : 

The  major  premise  is :  The  great  missionary  fields  of  the 
world,  where  the  larger  number  of  our  missionaries  are  now 
at  work,  lie  among  the  historical  religions  which  have  chal- 
lenged the  assent  of  the  intellectual  races  of  the  world. 

The  minor  premise  is:  The  most  effective  way  for  the 
presentation  of  Christianity  to  the  followers  of  these  non- 
Christian  religions  is  through  a  careful  knowledge  of  them, 
an  appreciation  of  their  point  of  view  and  an  understanding 
of  their  method  of  thought. 

61 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

The  conclusion  is  too  manifest  perhaps  to  state.  It  is,  of 
course,  that  which  underlies  the  purpose  of  this  Board, 
namely,  the  necessity  for  a  thorough  preparation  on  the  part 
of  the  missionaries,  so  far  as  possible,  before  entering  upon 
their  service. 

There  is  an  African  proverb  which  Dr.  Stewart  quotes  in 
his  letter  to  the  Commission  which  seems  to  me  to  have 
peculiar  aptness:  "The  dawn  does  not  rise  twice  to 
awaken  a  man."  There  is  a  somewhat  similar  proverb  cur- 
rent in  India:  "A  Brahman's  wisdom  is  after  wisdom." 
The  application  of  these  proverbs  to  our  present  thought  is 
too  apparent  for  statement. 

Suffer  a  word  of  personal  experience.  When  I  was  under- 
going my  first  period  of  service  in  the  missionary  field  of 
India,  I  became  very  much  impressed  with  the  inadequacy  of 
my  preparation  for  the  work  that  offered,  and  determined 
that  at  the  first  opportunity  I  would  enter  upon  formal  plans 
for  more  careful  and  definite  preparation  for  future  service. 
On  my  return  on  furlough  I  secured  release  from  the  usual 
deputation  work  falling  to  the  share  of  a  missionary  at  home 
and  entered  upon  a  formal  course  of  study  in  connection  with 
one  of  our  American  universities  which,  I  felt,  very  greatly 
helped  me  in  my  later  work.  While  this  undertaking  was 
in  mind  I  wrote  to  friends  in  this  country,  members  of  our 
Board,  for  advice  and  suggestion,  but  was  not  able  to  receive 
any  very  definite  information.  This  somewhat  delayed  my 
entrance  upon  this  belated  preparatory  work  on  my  return  to 
this  country.  By  serving  as  a  source  for  reliable  informa- 
tion, such  as  I  needed,  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  can 
be  very  useful  to  many  missionaries  who  thus,  by  personal 
experience,  will  come  to  a  very  practical  realization  of  the 
need  for  larger  preparation  for  effective  missionary  service. 


62 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

THE  NEED  OF  A  BOARD  OF  STUDIES  FROM  THE 
STANDPOINT  OF  A  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY 

The  Reverend  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  D.D. 

The  foreign  missionary  is  the  one  who  most  keenly  feels 
the  need  of  having  better  preparation  for  missionary  candi- 
dates. Two  reasons  for  more  adequate  preparation  before 
the  missionary  is  selected  and  appointed  are  ever  present  with 
him: 

1.  He  it  is  who  sees  and  deplores  the  waste  of  time  and 
the  misdirected  energy  made  inevitable  when  missionaries 
are  expected  to  begin  work  in  a  field,  unfamiliar  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  people  among  whom  they  are  to  labor,  unac- 
quainted with  the  religious  systems  which  prevail,  and  know- 
ing practically  nothing  of  the  network  of  Christian  effort 
already  spread  over  large  areas  and  into  which  they  must  fit 
whatever  of  effort  they  expend  in  that  field.  In  the  judgment 
of  the  experienced  missionary  the  foreign  missionary  Boards 
should  have  seen  this  need  years  ago  and  made  satisfactory 
provision  to  equip  every  new  missionary  with  specific  train- 
ing for  the  field  to  which  he  is  to  go,  and  for  the  particular 
form  of  work  into  which  he  is  to  put  his  energies. 

2.  It  is  the  missionary  on  the  field  who  sees  more  clearly 
than  any  other  the  rapid  growth  of  the  native  church.  He 
sees  with  startling  plainness  what  has  not  yet  become  clear 
to  many  of  those  w^ho  are  officers  of  our  foreign  mission 
Boards  and  Societies  in  Europe  and  America,  and  that  is  that 
the  native  church,  now  including  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
converted  and  partially  educated  people,  is  a  force  for  the 
evangelization  of  each  country,  which  has  a  value  out  of  all 
proportion  to  the  thought  of  the  ordinary  supporter  of  the 
foreign  missionary  enterprise.  The  missionary  sees  the  vast 
possibilities  of  the  native  church,  and  that  these  can  never  be 
realized  unless  such  fast-growing  powers  are  guided  wisely 

63 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

and  constructively  by  men  of  fine  natural  ability  to  whom 
has  been  given  the  best  attainable  preparation. 

For  these  two  reasons,  among  many  others,  the  foreign 
missionary  sees  the  need  of  a  better  preparation  for  mission- 
ary candidates,  and  devoutly  prays  that  the  day  may  not  be 
far  distant  when  this  need  may  be  met  by  the  united  efifort  of 
all  foreign  mission  Boards. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  MISSIONARY 

STUDIES  AS  SEEN  BY  STUDENTS 

OF  MISSIONS 

Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton,  D.D. 

The  education  required  by  a  missionary  in  Eastern  lands 
falls  properl)^  under  five  heads : 

1.  That  general  education  which  he  shares  in  common 
with  other  men  undertaking  to  fill  positions  of  responsibility 
in  the  world.  For  simplicity  we  may  speak  of  this  as  his  col- 
lege education. 

2.  That  professional  education  which  he  shares  in  com- 
mon with  other  men  of  his  profession.  It  may  be  theological, 
medical,  educational,  architectural,  or  even  agricultural. 

3.  That  special  preparation  for  missionary  work  which 
he  needs  in  common  with  all  missionaries.  As  has  already 
been  pointed  out  by  others,  this  special  education  should 
include  a  knowledge  of  the  history  and  methods  of  Christian 
missions,  of  Christianity  in  relation  to  other  religions  and  of 
other  religions  in  relation  to  Christianity. 

4.  That  special  preparation  which  he  needs  to  fit  him  for 
the  special  type  of  missionary  work  which  he  is  to  undertake. 
It  is  no  longer  a  good  management  of  mission  interests  to 
accept  men  for  missionary  work  in  such  lands  as  India, 
China,  and  Japan,  or,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  our  Chair- 
man, in  Africa,  without  some  forecast  as  to  the  kind  of  work 

64 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING 

in  which  they  are  to  engage.  Nor  is  it  expedient,  having  sent 
them  into  these  lands,  to  assign  them  to  evangelical,  educa- 
tional, or  administrative  work  without  reference  to  their  pre- 
vious preparation  or  qualifications.  This  special  preparation, 
with  reference  to  the  particular  type  of  work  in  which  the 
missionary  engages,  may,  in  some  cases  and  to  some  extent, 
be  identical  with  the  general  professional  education  men- 
tioned under  the  second  head,  but  this  will  not  always  be  the 
case.  The  educated  missionary,  for  example — and  I  shall 
mention  this  example  only  of  the  type  of  education  of  which 
I  am  now  speaking — having  taken  his  college  degree  and 
having  had  a  course  in  theology  or  medicine,  ought  at  the 
present  day  to  have  a  course  of  special  preparation  in  addi- 
tion for  the  work  of  teaching.  To  those  subjects  which  have 
already  been  mentioned  and  insisted  upon,  the  study  of  psy- 
chology and  pedagogy,  and  practice  in  teaching,  we  ought 
not  to  forget  to  add  a  knowledge  of  the  subject  matter  in  the 
field  in  which  one  is  to  teach.  There  came  to  my  attention 
not  long  ago  the  case  of  a  man  appointed  to  teach  chemistry 
in  a  missionary  college,  which  ought  at  least  in  its  situation 
to  have  been  one  of  high  standing,  who,  as  he  himself  told 
me,  had  not  been  inside  of  a  chemical  laboratory  for  twenty 
years,  and  who  had  never  had  anything  more  than  a  meagre 
course  in  the  subject.  We  cannot  afford  to  send  men  to 
China  and  Korea  to  help  build  up  for  those  countries  sound 
educational  systems  who,  however  great  their  zeal  and  ex- 
cellent their  training  in  the  art  of  teaching,  are  not  thorough- 
ly acquainted  with  the  subjects  which  they  are  to  teach. 

5.  Special  training  for  work  in  the  particular  country  to 
which  the  missionary  is  going.  This  obviously  includes  a 
knowledge  of  the  language  and  of  the  religion  or  religions 
of  the  country.  To  this  I  should  add,  and,  because  of  the 
danger  that  it  may  be  overlooked,  should  emphasize  the  need 
of  a  reasonably  thorough  and  thoroughly  sympathetic  ac- 
quaintance with  the  history,  literature,  customs,  spirit,  and 

65 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

ideals  of  the  people.  It  would  be  easily  possible  to  name  in- 
stance after  instance,  each  of  them  with  pain,  of  men  of 
boundless  zeal  and  devotion  and  excellent  character,  whose 
services  to  the  countries  to  which  they  have  devoted  their 
lives  have  been  sadly  reduced  either  because  of  lack  of 
patience  on  their  part  to  learn  the  language,  or  lack  of  the 
recognition  of  the  need  of  a  sympathetic  understanding  of 
the  history,  literature,  and  spirit  of  the  people  among  whom 
they  were  working. 

If  the  above  is  a  substantially  correct  exhibit  of  the  educa- 
tion which  is  needed  to  prepare  the  missionary  for  large  and 
effective  service,  it  at  once  suggests  several  principles  which 
may  perhaps  be  accepted  as  adapted  to  guide  us  in  the  work 
with  which  this  Board  is  concerned: 

(a)  The  education  which  is  needed  by  the  missionary 
cannot  be  obtained  in  full  in  the  ordinary  American  college 
or  professional  school.  An  exception  perhaps  ought  to  be 
made  in  the  case  of  men  sent  out  immediately  from  college  to 
engage,  on  three  or  five  years'  contract,  in  teaching  in  schools 
in  which  education  is  conducted  largely  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. This,  however,  is  a  special  case  which  does  not  seri- 
ously modify  the  general  principle. 

(b)  It  is  uneconomical  to  undertake  to  get  abroad,  mean- 
ing by  this  in  missionary  lands,  the  education  which  is  needed 
by  all  missionaries  alike,  to  whatever  country  they  may  be 
going.     Such  training  should  be  given  in  the  home  lands. 

(c)  It  is  inexpedient  to  give  at  home  the  training  that  is 
necessary  for  missionary  work  in  a  particular  country.  This 
can  be  given  far  more  effectively  and  economically  in  the 
country  in  which  the  man  is  to  do  his  work. 

(d)  It  is  uneconomical  and  unwise  for  the  various  mis- 
sionary Societies  working  in  a  given  country  to  educate  each 
their  own  missionaries  separately,  whether  this  be  done,  as 
has  often  been  the  case,  by  placing  the  novitiate  under  the 
immediate  training  of  an  older  man,  or  by  the  establishing 

66 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL  MEETING 

of  separate  schools  for  each  Society.  Union  of  effort  is 
imperatively  demanded  in  this  matter,  as  in  so  many  others, 
(e)  We  must,  therefore,  have  missionary  training  schools 
at  home  to  supplement  the  work  of  our  colleges  and  theo- 
logical institutions  as  now  ordinarily  conducted  (whether 
these  should  be  union  I  do  not  undertake  to  discuss),  and 
schools  conducted  in  cooperation  by  different  Boards  and 
denominations  in  each  of  the  great  divisions  of  the  mission- 
ary field. 


THE  PARAMOUNT  PLACE  OF  THE  BIBLE  IN 
MISSIONARY  PREPARATION 

President  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D. 

I  have  one  thing  only  to  say.  It  is  that  we  shall  be  making 
a  great  mistake,  if  we  do  not  emphasize  direct,  intensive  and 
comprehensive  Bible  study  as  one  of  the  essentials  in  prep- 
aration for  the  mission  field.  Personally,  I  would  go  further 
and  name  it  as  the  essential  study  for  missionary  prepara- 
tion. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  undervaluing  the  five 
special  subjects  reported  upon  by  the  Committee,  viz:  Peda- 
gogy, Sociology,  Missions,  Ethnic  Religions  and  Language 
Study.  These  all  are  very  important.  It  is  a  question  of 
comparative  values.  The  good  must  not  be  allowed  here  to 
be  the  enemy  of  the  best. 

Moreover,  in  emphasizing  the  study  of  the  Bible,  I  do  not 
mean  to  slight  these  studies.  They  are  all  (except  the  study 
of  languages)  involved  in  the  context  of  true  Bible  study. 
They  are  cognate  studies,  concomitants,  essential  parts  of  the 
context  of  the  true  study  of  the  Bible.  They  are  spokes  in 
the  wheel  of  which  Bible  study  is  the  hub  and  the  felloe  and 
the  tire.  It  is  a  problem  in  proportion  we  must  here  seek 
to  solve.    It  is  a  question  of  emphasis  of  relation. 

67 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

Here  is  my  hand  which  I  present  as  a  mnemonic.  The  five 
fing-ers  may  represent  these  five  special  subjects  reported  by 
the  Committee  as  necessary  for  the  proper  training  of  the 
missionary  candidate.  The  palm  of  my  hand  I  would  make 
to  represent  true  Bible  study.  The  palm  in  its  relation  to 
the  fing-ers  suggests  how  these  six  subjects  should  be  related. 

We  are  in  great  danger  of  missing  this  fimdamental  prep- 
aration in  multiplying  departments  of  study  and  in  over- 
specialization.  I  am  reminded  of  a  story  which  I  once  heard 
Dr.  Graham  Taylor  tell  of  a  little  girl  who  broke  her  arm 
near  his  summer  home  in  Michigan.  The  first  doctor  sent 
for  was  an  eye  and  ear  specialist,  and  would  not  come.  The 
second  proved  to  be  a  throat  specialist,  and  therefore  begged 
to  be  excused.  Not  until  the  third  doctor  was  found  did  they 
secure  one  who  was  prepared  to  set  the  arm.  "A  new  spec- 
ialty," said  Dr.  Taylor,  "will  soon  be  called  for,  viz:  the 
specialty  of  general  practice." 

I  speak  from  deep  conviction  growing  out  of  a  fairly  wide 
experience.  For  eighteen  months  in  India,  more  than  twelve 
years  ago,  I  heard  the  confessions  of  many  scores  of  mis- 
sionaries as  to  their  greatest  lack  in  preparation  for  the  field. 
I  may  be  pardoned  for  mentioning  a  fact  of  history.  It  w^as 
these  confessions  which  sent  me  home  to  establish  a  school 
which  might  help  send  fewer  workers  to  the  field  who  would 
later,  even  as  late  as  five  or  ten  years,  discover  that  the}'- 
lacked  the  chief  element  in  real  preparation  for  this  work. 
My  two  recent  trips  to  the  Far  East  have  but  added  over- 
whelming evidence  that  the  position  which  I  am  taking  is 
absolutely  correct. 

The  Bible  in  the  mother  tongue  must  be  placed  at  the 
center  of  the  curriculum  of  preparation  for  Christian  work 
of  every  kind,  and  therefore,  of  course,  it  must  go  to  the 
center  of  missionary  preparation. 

Dr.  James  McCosh  once  said  that  of  many  very  useful 
things  which  he  had  learned  in  life,  one  of  the  most  valuable 

68 


TPIE   FIRST   ANNUAL   MEETING 

was  this:  to  use  the  right  instrument  in  the  proper  sphere. 
The  Holy  Writings  are  declared  by  themselves  and  by 
experience  to  be  able  to  bring  men  to  Christ,  to  build  them 
up  in  Christ  and  to  send  them  out  for  Christ.  Such  is  a 
summary  of  that  notable  passage  which  contains  Paul's 
urgent  advice  to  Timothy  about  abiding  in  the  things  which 
he  had  learned  and  had  been  assured  of.  The  position  of 
Timothy  in  Ephesus  may  be  taken  as  quite  like  that  of  the 
missionary  on  the  foreign  field.  The  temptation  to  discour- 
agement, and  a  hundred  other  fierce  assaults,  may  be  success- 
fully met  by  the  one  who,  like  Timothy,  has  known  the  Holy 
Writings  and  has  been  assured  of  them.  And  as  for  the  peo- 
ple to  whom  the  missionary  goes,  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible 
only,  will  be  their  Magna  Charta.  I  make  an  earnest  plea  for 
placing  Bible  study — true  Bible  study — in  the  place  para- 
mount in  the  preparation  of  the  missionary. 

THE  WISDOM  OF  COOPERATION  BETWEEN 
THE  TWO  BOARDS  OF  STUDIES 

Henry  T.  Hodgkin,  M.A.,  M.B. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  meet  with  you  today,  both 
because  of  the  opportunity  of  meeting  personally  with  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Study  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  and 
also  because  of  the  deep  interest  which  I  have  in  the  questions 
which  you  have  been  discussing  this  morning.  It  has  been 
both  interesting  and  profitable  to  me  to  listen  to  the  addresses 
which  have  been  delivered,  and  I  have  gained  a  good  deal  in 
the  way  of  suggestion  for  our  work  in  England. 

I  am  also  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  presenting  to 
you  the  greetings  of  the  members  of  the  Executive  Commit- 
tee of  our  Board  of  Study.  I  was  present  at  a  meeting  held 
a  few  days  before  I  left  England,  and  was  charged  with 
the  very  pleasant  duty  of  conveying  to  you  their  hearty 
greetings. 

69 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

The  work  which  is  being  transacted  by  the  Boards  of 
Study  in  England  and  America  is  essentially  the  same,  al- 
though there  are,  of  course,  certain  directions  in  which  each 
country  must  work  on  its  own  lines. 

In  determining  and  utilizing  the  special  facilities  available 
in  each  country  for  the  training  of  missionaries,  in  planning 
for  definite  lines  of  work,  such  as  the  holding  of  summer 
schools  or  the  foundation  of  traveling  or  other  lectureships, 
in  seeking  to  arouse  the  church  to  the  importance  of  the  ques- 
tions involved  in  preparation,  we  shall  have  to  work  largely 
on  independent  lines.  But  there  are  surely  certain  directions 
in  which  we  may  be  able  to  help  one  another.  It  may  be 
advantageous  for  English  students  to  come  to  this  country 
for  the  prosecution  of  some  of  their  special  studies,  as  has 
already  been  done  in  some  cases,  or  for  North  American 
students  to  come  to  our  universities.  The  experience  of 
practical  efiForts  in  one  country  will  be  helpful  in  considering 
the  question  of  inaugurating  similar  work  in  the  other;  and 
it  may  be  that  from  time  to  time  we  can  unite  our  effort, 
even  in  such  matters  as  those  to  which  I  have  referred. 
There  are,  however,  not  a  few  definite  lines  in  which  we  can, 
I  believe,  be  mutually  helpful,  and,  above  all,  we  can  help  one 
another  in  studying  together  the  larger  aspects  of  the  prob- 
lem committed  to  us. 

It  may  be  possible  for  us  to  arrange  that  outstanding  men, 
who  might  be  engaged  as  lecturers  in  one  country,  should 
devote  some  time  to  lecturing  in  the  other. 

In  the  preparation  of  textbooks,  I  believe  that  a  consider- 
able measure  of  cooperation  will  be  found  to  be  practicable. 
The  experience  of  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  and 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  points  in  this  direction. 

Among  the  larger  problems  which  emerge  at  the  outset  of 
our  work,  and  one  of  the  most  difficult,  is  the  determination 
of  what  part  of  special  missionary  training  should  be  under- 
taken in  this  country  and  what  part  should  be  undertaken 

70 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

on  the  field.  The  principles  enunciated  by  Professor  Burton 
meet  with  my  own  entire  approval,  but  the  practical  questions 
which  are  before  us  must  be  determined  not  only  on  general 
principles,  but  also  by  the  facilities  available,  or  likely  to  be 
available,  in  the  near  future  at  home  and  on  the  field.  In 
order,  therefore,  to  guide  students  wisely  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  have  the  fullest  information, 
and  the  fact  that  schools  on  the  mission  field  are,  many  of 
them,  international  in  character,  points  to  the  advisability 
of  our  proceeding  along  this  line  in  close  cooperation  with 
one  another.  The  special  committee  appointed  by  the  Con- 
tinuation Committee  on  "the  development  of  training  schools 
for  missionaries  on  the  field"  has  brought  together  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  information  showing  that  schools  have 
already  been  established,  or  are  in  process  of  being  estab- 
lished, in  seven  centers  in  China,  Korea,  and  Japan,  in  three 
centers  in  India  and  in  Cairo.  The  committee  wishes  to  put 
the  information  which  it  has  received  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Boards,  and  this  can  perhaps  best  be  done  through  the 
Boards  of  Study  in  each  country.  It  is  most  important  that 
this  special  committee  should  be  in  close  touch  with  the 
Boards  of  Study  in  England  and  in  America,  and  with  any 
Boards  of  Study  which  may  be  established  on  the  Continent 
of  Europe.  One  proposal  which  is  at  present  being  consid- 
ered by  that  special  committee  is  that  its  membership  should 
be  selected,  as  far  as  possible,  from  among  the  membership 
of  the  Boards  of  Study. 

Another  large  problem  which  faces  us  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  at  the  present  time  is  the  exact  definition  of  the  task 
which  lies  before  us.  Further  thought  is  necessary  on  what 
exactly  is  to  be  included  in  special  missionary  preparation, 
and  experience  as  to  the  value  of  particular  courses  of  prep- 
aration which  have  been  taken  by  missionaries  now  on  the 
field  should  be  collected  in  order  to  throw  light  upon  the 
preparation  of  those  who  are  about  to  go  forth. 

71 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

We  need  especially  to  devote  more  attention  to  the  ques- 
tion of  how  we  may  best  train  missionaries  to  approach  the 
non-Christian  peoples.  We  have,  it  seems  to  me,  allowed 
our  enterprises  to  be  carried  on  in  much  too  haphazard  a 
way.  Comparatively  few  have  given  serious  and  prolonged 
thought  to  this  very  important  matter.  The  best  thought  of 
those  who  are  thinking  along  these  lines  should  be  brought 
together.  This  suggests  a  sphere  in  which  there  seems  to  be 
ample  room  for  cooperation. 

The  more  we  study  our  task,  the  more  shall  we  be  assured 
that  we  need  to  draw  in  to  our  assistance  the  best  thought 
of  all  countries.  I  have  been  especially  impressed,  in  the 
little  study  which  I  have  recently  given  to  the  situation  on 
the  Continent,  to  discover  how  much  there  is  for  us  to  learn 
from  Germany  and  from  Holland,  particularly  on  this  ques- 
tion of  the  non-Christian  approach. 

I  hope  that  the  Boards  of  Study  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic will  consider  at  the  earliest  possible  time  in  what  ways 
they  can  best  make  sure  that  the  experience  of  each  group 
shall  become  available  for  the  other  group,  in  order  that  un- 
necessary duplications  of  work  may  be  avoided  and  that  we 
may  cooperate  wherever  such  cooperation  will  be  mutually 
beneficial. 

I  should  like  to  make  here  in  my  own  name,  and  not  as 
representing  my  Board,  one  or  two  suggestions  v/hich  may 
be  of  service: 

First,  that  our  Board  should  make  a  point  of  exchanging 
experience  by  sending  all  minutes  and  papers  which  have 
been  passed  or  considered  by  the  Board  of  Study  in  one 
country  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  in  the  other. 

Second,  that  where  proposals  are  put  forward  for  the 
preparation  of  textbooks  or  of  other  literature,  it  would  be 
well  for  each  Board  to  formally  consult  the  other  before 
definitely  proceeding,  unless  it  is  clear  that  the  scope  of  the 
literature  is  exclusively  national. 

72 


THE  FIRST  ANNUAL   MEETING 

Third,  that,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  members  of  either 
Board  of  Study  will  be  made  welcome  to  the  meetings  of  the 
other  Board  at  any  time  when  it  may  be  possible  for  them  to 
attend.  I  make  this  suggestion  the  more  readily  because  of 
the  advantage  which  I  have  found  it  to  be  to  myself  to  be 
present  at  your  meeting  today. 

I  commend  these  few  suggestions  to  your  thought,  and 
hope  that  you  will  be  ready  to  avail  yourselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  lay  them  before  the  Board  of  Study  in  Great  Bri- 
tain for  its  acceptance. 


A  PLAN  FOR  DEALING  WITH  THE  HEALTH 
PROBLEMS  OF  THE  MISSIONARY 

Dr.  Luther  Halsey  Gulick 

In  order  to  deal  adequately  with  the  important,  even  vital, 
question  of  maintaining  better  standards  of  health  on  the 
part  of  missionaries,  it  is  desirable  that : 

1.  The  cost  of  unnecessary  ill  health  and  breakdowns 
should  be  ascertained  by  each  Board  through  a  study  of  its 
own  records. 

2.  If  such  a  study  shows  that  health  is  a  considerable 
factor  in  efficiency,  the  Boards  should  unite  in  the  employ- 
ment of  medical  officers  who  are  sufficiently  numerous  and 
so  distributed  as  to  enable  them  to  examine  each  missionary, 
his  family  and  his  environment  once  each  year,  giving  him 
needed  authoritative  advice. 

3.  The  Boards  would  also  profit  by  making  a  study  of 
the  causes  of  ill  health  among  missionaries.  In  this  way  in- 
formation would  be  secured  regarding  the  precise  instruction 
that  should  be  given  on  health  matters  to  candidates  for  for- 
eign service. 

4.  The  Boards  could  with  real  advantage  unite  upon  a 
general  medical  examining  and  counselling  service  at  home, 

73 


BOARD    OF    MISSIONARY    STUDIES 

thus  securing  the  services  of  men  who  could  specialize  in 
such  work. 

5.  What  is  needed  in  medical  service  to  missionaries  both 
at  home  and  abroad  is  not  merely  medical  skill,  but  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  whole  environment  surrounding 
the  missionary. 

6.  In  order  that  the  proposed  medical  service  for  mis- 
sionaries in  the  field,  for  missionaries  returning  from  the 
field,  and  for  candidates  for  the  field,  may  be  rendered  as 
efficiently  as  possible,  an  unpaid  Medical  Board,  consisting 
of  the  best  qualified  medical  men  in  America,  might  be  ap- 
pointed. Such  a  Board  could  organize  and  supervise  the 
medical  service  referred  to  above,  as  well  as  collect  and  cor- 
relate the  information  on  health  conditions  needed  by  the 
Boards,  and  to  be  secured  by  them  through  the  service  of 
their  medical  missionaries  all  over  the  missionary  world. 

7.  It  is  not  proposed  that  this  Medical  Board  shall  be  in 
any  way  related  to  the  conduct  of  medical  missions.  The  only 
service  contemplated  would  be  a  medical  service  to  mission- 
aries and  one  of  examination,  counsel  and  instruction  to  those 
proposing  to  become  missionaries. 


74 


INDEX 


Arabic,  study  of,  by  missionaries,  55. 

Barton,  James  L.,  D.D.,  address  by, 
56-60. 

Beach,  Prof.  Harlan  P.,  D.D.,  address 
by,  40-56. 

Bible,  the  paramount  place  of  the,  in 
missionary  preparation,  67-69. 

Board  of  Missionary  Studies,  aim  of, 
8,  16 ;  amendments  to  constitution 
of,  18 ;  bearing  of  reports  of  Com- 
missions of  World  Missionary  Con- 
ference on  importance  of  work  of, 
33-36 ;  60-61 ;  committee  of  nineteen 
to  organize,  11-12;  considerations 
which  led  to  the  formation  of,  57, 
58;  constitution  of,  16-18;  duty  of, 
8,  9;  executive  committee  of,  29; 
methods  of,  17-18;  minutes  of  first 
annual  meeting  of,  25-29;  necessity 
of,  as  seen  by  the  foreign  mission- 
ary, 60-64 ;  necessity  of,  as  seen  by 
the  Foreign  Mission  Boards,  56-60 ; 
necessity  of,  as  seen  by  students  of 
missions,  64-67 ;  officers  and  mem- 
bers of,  2,  19,  27-29;  organization  of, 
17,  28 ;  origin  of,  7-21 ;  recommenda- 
tions of  Commission  V  for  a,  7-9; 
report  of  formation  of,  14-20;  work 
expected  of,  59,  60. 

British  Board  of  Study  for  the  Prep- 
aration of  Missionaries,  origin 
of,  10. 

British  civil  service,  language  study  in 
preparation  for,  43-44. 

Burton,  Prof.  Ernest  D.,  D.D.,  address 
by,  64-67. 

Chamberlain,  Rev.  Wm.  I.,  Ph.D.,  ad- 
dress by,  60-62. 

Chinese  classical  language,  study  of, 
by  missionaries,  55. 

Classical  languages,  study  of,  by  mis- 
sionaries, 55-56. 

College  education,  inadequacy  of,  in 
preparation  of  missionaries,  57-59. 

College  of  Missions  in  Indianapolis, 
language  study  in,  49,  51,  52. 

Committee  of  nineteen  to  organize 
Board  of  Missionary  Studies,  11-12. 

Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel, 
report  of,  10-11. 

Commission  V  of  World  Missionary 
Conference,  quotations  from  report 
of,  7-9,  14-16,  50. 

Commissions  of  World  Missionary 
Conference,    bearing   of    reports   of, 


on  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Studies,  33-36,  60,  61. 

Constitution  of  Board  of  Missionary 
Studies,  16-18. 

Contents,  table  of,  3. 

Cooperation  between  the  two  Boards 
of  Studies,  wisdom  of,  69-73. 

Cummings,  Rev.  Thomas  F.,  language 
teaching  by,  52. 

Educational  missionaries,  difficult  de- 
mands on,  47,  48;  professional  train- 
ing of  the,  40,  41,  45-48. 

Education,  study  of,  in  the  training  of 
missionaries,  45-48. 

Evangelistic  missionaries,  professional 
training  of,  39,  40. 

First  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Studies,  minutes  of,  25- 
29;  personnel  of,  25;  program  of,  26. 

General  training  of  missionaries,  39-41. 
Gulick,  Dr.  Luther  Halsey,  address  by, 

7?,,  74. 

Health  Problems  of  the  Missionary,  a 
plan  for  dealing  with  the,  73,  74. 

History  and  Science  of  Missions, 
study  of,  in  the  specific  training  for 
the  field,  42. 

Hodgkin,  Henry  T.,  M.A.,  M.B.,  ad- 
dress by,  69-73. 

Importance  of  increased  efficiency  in 
the  training  of  missionaries  for  their 
tasks,  2>Z-2)7. 

Industrial  missionary,  the  professional 
training  of,  41. 

Language  schools,  on  the  field,  need 
of,  49. 

Language  study,  by  missionary  candi- 
dates, before  going  to  the  field,  43, 
44,  49-56;  by  missionary  candidates 
in  British  School  of  Oriental 
Studies,  44 ;  by  Rammohun  Roy,  56 ; 
for  British  civil  service,  43-44;  in 
College  of  Missions  in  Indianapolis, 
49,  51,  52;  in  missionary  training 
schools  and  theological  seminaries, 
49,  51,  52,  54-55 ;  in  specific  training 
for  the  field,  42-44;  need  of  better 
text  books  and  methods  for,  53,  54; 
relation  of,  to  classical  languages  of 
the  Orient,  55,  56. 


75 


INDEX 


Language  teaching,  by  Prof.  C.  T. 
Paul,  49,  51,  52;  by  Rev.  Thomas  F. 
Cummings,  52. 


Report  of  Commission  V  of  World 
Missionary  Conference,  quoted,  7-9, 
14-16,  50. 


Mackenzie,    Pres.    W.    Douglas,    D.D., 

address  by,  37-45. 
Medical   Board,  proposal  to  form,  74. 
Medical       missionaries,       professional 

training  of,  41. 
Medical  service  to  missionaries,  IZ,  74. 
Meeting     of     Board     of     Alissionary 

Studies,    First    Annual,    minutes    of, 

25-29. 
Missionary  Training  Schools,  language 

study  in,  49,  51,  52,  54,  55. 
Mott,  Dr.  John  R.,  address  by,  33-37. 


Ordained      missionaries, 
training  of,  39-40. 


professional 


Paul,  Prof.  C.  T.,  language  teaching 
by,  49,  51,  52. 

Pedagogy,  study  of,  in  the  specific 
training  of  for  the  field,  42. 

Phonetics,  study  of  \yy  missionary  can- 
didates, 44,  49,  52,  53. 

Physical  life  of  the  missionary,  how  to 
care  for  the,  IZ,  74. 

Preparation  of  the  missionary,  impor- 
tance of  better,  ZZ-Zl ,  60,  61;  the 
paramount  place  of  the  Bible  in  the, 
67-69. 

Professional  training,  of  educational 
missionaries,  40-41;  45-48;  of  indus- 
trial missionaries,  41 ;  of  medical 
missionaries,  41 ;  of  missionaries, 
39-41,  64;  of  ordained  missionaries, 
39,  40. 


Rammohun  Roy,  language  study  by,  56. 

Religions  of  the  World,   study  of,  in 

preparation  of  missionary,  42,  72. 


Sailer,  T.  H.  P.,  Ph.D.,  address  by, 
45-48. 

Sanskrit,  study  of,  by  missionaries,  55. 

School  of  Oriental  Studies  in  Great 
Britain,  proposal  to  found,  8,  9;  use 
of,  by  Mission  Boards,  44. 

Schools  for  language  study  on  the 
field,  need  of,  49. 

Sociology,  study  of,  in  specific  training 
for  the  field,  42. 

Special  missionary  preparation,  41-44, 
64-66 ;  need  of,  37-45 ;  problems  in 
relation  to,  70-71. 

Specialized  Preparation  of  the  mis- 
sionary, need  of,  57-59. 

Specific  training  for  the  field,  subjects 
of  study  needed  in  the,  42-44. 

Studies  suggested  in  the  special  prep- 
aration of  missionaries,  Bible,  67-69; 
history  and  science  of  missions,  42 ; 
languages,  42,  55,  56,  65 ;  Pedagogy, 
42;  phonetics,  42,  52-54;  peoples  of 
country  served,  65,  66 ;  religions,  43, 
65,  72 ;  sociolog^^  42. 

Study  of  classical  languages  of  the 
Orient,  55,  56. 

Stuntz,  Rev.  Homer  C,  D.D.,  address 
by,  63,  64. 

Supplementary  training  of  mission- 
aries, 44. 

Text  books,  cooperation  in  the  prep- 
aration of,  70. 

Theological  seminaries,  language  study 
in,  49,  51,  52,54.  55./ 

Theological  training,  inadequacy  of,  in 
preparation  of  missionaries,  57-59. 

White,  Pres.  Wilbur  W.,  address  by, 
67-69. 


76 


THE  SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING 

Held  in  New  York  City 
December  6,  1912 


REPORT  of  the  SECOND  ANNUAL 
MEETING  of  the  BOARD  or 
MISSIONARY  PREPARATION 

(FOR  NORTH  AMERICA) 


HELD    IN 

NEW    YORK    CITY 

December  6,  1912 


Published  by  order  of  the  Board 
600  Lexington  Avenue,  New  York 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Constitution  4 

Members  of  Board  and  Officers  for  1913 6 

Part  I. 

Minutes  second  annual  meeting  7 

Action  of  Foreign  Missions  Conference 12 

Part  II. 
Opening  address   13 

Committee  I. — "Plans  and  practice  of  foreign  missionary  boards  as  to 
the  preparation  required  of  their  candidates."  Report  and  dis- 
cussion       17-46 

Committee  II. — "The  present  facilities  afforded  missionar}'  candidates  in 
Institutions  and  'Movements,'  and  further  facilities  for  the  train- 
ing of  missionary  candidates  needed,  especially  in  the  fol- 
lowing subjects:  (i)  Science  and  History  of  Missions.  (2)  Re- 
ligions of  the  World.  (3)  Sociology.  (4)  Pedagogy-.  5.  Science 
of  Language  and  Language  of  Different  Fields.  6.  English  Bible." 
Report  and  discussion 47-73 

Committee  III. — "Courses  of  reading  for  candidates  under  appointment  for 

foreign  missionary  service."     Report   76-77 

Committee  IV. — "The   fundamental  qualilications    for  missionary  work." 

Report  and  discussion   78-93 


CONSTITUTION 

I.  Name. 

The  Board  shall  be  called  "The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 
(for  North  America)." 

[By  unanimous  consent  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  at  Garden  City  in  January, 
1913,  the  name  of  the  Board  was  changed  to  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation.] 

II.  Am. 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  shall  have  for  its  aim  to 
secure  the  most  adequate  kind  and  quality  of  preparation  for  those  who 
are  in  training  for  foreign  missionary  service. 

III.     Organization. 

1.  The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  shall  be  appointed  by 
and  be  responsible  to  The  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North 
America. 

2.  It  shall  be  composed  of  not  more  than  thirty-six  members,  who 
shall  be  appointed  for  not  over  three  years.  At  the  first  appointment 
they  shall  be  arranged  in  three  groups  appointed  for  one,  two  and  three 
years,  respectively.     Members  shall  be  eligible  for  re-election. 

3.  All  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by  The  Foreign  Missions  Confer- 
ence of  North  America  from  nominations  made  by  The  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation,  except  that  vacancies  occurring  during  the  year 
may  be  filled  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  to  serve  until 
the  next  meeting  of  The  Foreign  Missions  Conference. 

4.  The  officers  of  The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  shall 
consist  of  a  Chairman  and  a  Secretary,  which  shall  be  appointed  by  The 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  on  the  nomination  of  the  Board  from 
the  members  of  the  Board,  and  who  shall  be  members  ex-oMcio  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Board. 

5.  The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  shall  appoint  annually 
an  Executive  Committee  of  seven  in  addition  to  the  officers  above 
named,  making  nine  in  all,  whose  duties  shall  be  to  carry  out  the  aims 
of  the  Board  under  the  methods  hereinafter  defined,  and  to  report  its 
transactions  in  full  to  the  Board. 

6.  The  Board  shall  hold  an  annual  meeting  at  which  it  shall  hear 
the  annual  report  of  its  Executive  Committee,  consider  all  matters 
proper  to  its  general  aim,  appoint  its  Executive  Committee  for  the 
following  year,  and  prepare  its  own  annual  report  to  the  Conference. 
Other  meetings  of  the  Board  may  be  held  at  the  call  of  the  Executive 
Committee.    A  majority  of  the  Board  shall  constitute  a  quorum. 

7.  The  Board  shall  have  the  power  to  create  special  co-operating 
committees,  to  include  persons  not  members  of  the  Board,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  specific  investigations  or  carrying  out  specific  and  tem- 
porary projects,  the  chairman  in  each  case  to  be  appointed  from  the 
members  of  the  Board. 


CONSTITUTION.  5 

IV.    Methods. 

1.  The  Board  shall  urge  the  importance  and  need  of  special  mis- 
sionary preparation  as  emphasized  in  the  Report  of  Commission  V  to 
The  World  Missionary  Conference,  1910. 

2.  The  Board,  through  its  Executive  Committee  and  its  officers, 
shall  enter  into  correspondence  with  similar  Boards  in  Europe,  with 
Missionary  Boards,  with  Theological  Seminaries  and  Colleges,  with 
Missionary  Training  Schools,  with  missionary  leaders  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  with  institutions  for  special  missonary  preparation  on  the 
field,  to  discover  both  what  is  being  done  and  what  ought  to  be  done 
for  the  best  equipment  of  the  missionary. 

3.  It  shall  maintain  correspondence  with  Missionary  Boards  for 
the  purpose  of  acquiring  information  and  affording  aid  in  the  adequate 
preparation  of  prospective  missionaries. 

4.  It  shall  be  ready  to  assist  young  men  and  women  who  desire 
information  and  advice  regarding  the  best  way  in  which  they  individu- 
ally may  acquire  the  training  necessary  for  their  respective  forms  and 
fields  of  missionary  service,  in  harmony  with  the  policy  and  plans  of 
the  several  Boards  concerned. 

5.  It  shall  be  ready  to  advise  with  the  officers  and  teachers  of 
Theological  Seminaries  and  Colleges  and  Special  Missionary  Training 
Schools,  regarding  the  subjects  and  methods  of  missionary  preparation, 
to  help  them  in  finding  suitable  teachers  or  lecturers. 

6.  It  shall  be  ready  to  advise  with  missionaries  on  furlough,  who 
have  strength  and  inclination  for  the  pursuit  of  studies  which  they  feel 
important  for  their  future  work,  as  to  the  best  manner  of  fulfilling 
their  desire. 

V.     Amendments. 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  The 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America,  provided  a  written 
notice  shall  have  been  given  to  The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 
and  all  the  Boards  and  Societies  represented  in  the  Conference  at  least 
three  montlis  in  advance. 


MEMBERS   OF  THE   BOARD 

Term  Expiring  in  1914 

President  W.  Douglas  MacKenzie,  D.D.,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Professor  Charles  R.  Erdman,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

President  Henry  C.  King,  Ph.D.,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 

Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D.,  New  York  Citv. 

Rev.  R.  p.  MacKay,  D.D.,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

President  E.  Y.  Mullins,  D.D.,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

Professor  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross,  M.A.,  New  York  City. 

Dean  Wilford  L.  Robbins,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

Bishop  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

Miss  Helen  B.  Calder,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Term  Expiring  in  1915 

Professor  John  H.  Strong,  Ph.D.,  Rochester,  New  York, 

Mrs.  a.  F.  Schauffler,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

John  R.  Mott,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

President  C.  T.  Paul,  Ph.D.,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

Dean  James  E.  Russell,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  T.  E.  Edgerton  Shore,  D.D.,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

President  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Term  Expiring  in  1916 

Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D.,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Professor  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh,  Ph.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Professor  O.  E.  Brown,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  M.A.,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

Professor  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D.,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

Rev.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City. 

Luther  Halsey  Gulick,  M.D.,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Fred.  P.  Haggard,  D.D.,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

President  W.  W.  Moore,  D.D.,  Richmond,  Virginia. 

Principal  T.  R.  O'Meara,  Toronto,  Ontario. 

Fennell  p.  Turner,  New  York  City. 

Miss  Addie  Grace  Wardle,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

OFFICERS    FOR    1913 

President  W.  Douglas  MacKenzie,  D.D.,  Chairman, 
Hosmer  Hall,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  Honorary  Secretary, 
600  Lexington  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Treasurer, 
25  East  22nd  Street,  New  York  City. 

Executive  Committee 

James  L.  Barton,  Ernest  D.  Burton,  John  R.  Mott,  Charles 
R.  Erdman,  T.  E.  Edgerton  Shore,  Mrs.  A.  F.  Schauffler, 
William  I.  Chamberlain,  W.  Douglas  MacKenzie,  Fennell  P. 
Turner. 

6 


PART    I 
MINUTES— SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING 


The  Second  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion was  held  in  the  Assembly  Room  of  the  Presbyterian  Building,  156 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  December  6,  1912.  With  short  intermissions 
for  luncheon  and  supper,  the  Board  was  in  session  from  or'^o  A.  M.  to 
8  :oo  P.  M. 


Present : 
James  L.  Barton 
Harlan  P.  Beach 
Miss  Helen  B.  Calder 
Edward  Warren  Capen 
William  I.  Chamberlain 
Charles  R.  Erdman 
Fred.  P.  Haggard 


Henry  C.  King 

W.  Douglas  Mackenzie 

R.  P.  Mackay 

C.  T.  Paul 

G.  A.  Johnston  Ross 

James  E.  Russell 

T.  H.  P.  Sailer 


T.  E.  Edgerton  Shore 
Robert  E.  Speer 
John  H.  Strong 
Fennell  P.  Turner 
Wilbert  W.  White 
Charles  R.  Watson 


Dr.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie  in  the  chair. 

The  devotional  exercises  were  conducted  by  Dr.  R.  P.  Mackay  and 
Dr.  John  H.  Strong.     The  open  address  was  given  by  Dr.  Mackenzie. 

The  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  presented  bv  F.  P. 
Turner,  Honorary  Secretary,  as  follows: 

The  Executive  Committee  begs  to  submit  the  following  report  since  its  ap- 
pomtment  on  December  6,  191 1: 

Meetings— Since  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation, 
held  on  December  6,  191 1,  at  which  the  present  Executive  Committee  was  ap- 
pomted,  four  meetings  have  been  held,  as  follows :  On  December  6,  191 1,  in  New 
York;  on  January  9,  1912,  in  New  York;  on  April  5,  1912,  in  Montclair,  N.  J.; 
on  December  5,  1912,  in  New  York. 

Membership  of  the  Board — In  accordance  with  the  instructions  of  the  Board 
at  its  annual  meeting,  the  persons  who  accepted  membership  in  the  Board  were 
divided  into  three  groups,  whose  terms  of  office  expire  in  one,  two  and  three 
years  (viz.:  1913,  1914,  1915),  as  follows: 


1913. 
James  L.   Barton, 
Martin    G.    Brumbaugh, 
O.    E.    Brown, 
Edward  W.   Capen, 
William   I.    Chamberlain, 
Luther  H.  Gulick, 
Fred  P.  Haggard, 
W.  W.  Moore. 
T.   R.  O'Meara, 
F.   P.  Turner, 
Harlan   P.   Beach, 
Addie  Grace  Wardle. 


1914. 
.\rthur   S.    Lloyd, 
R.  P.  Mackay, 
Homer  C.   Stuntz, 
Helen    B.    Calder. 
Ernest  D.    Burton, 
W.   Douglas  Mackenzie, 
E.  Y.  Mullins, 
C.  R.  Erdman, 
Wilford   L.    Robbins, 
Henry   C.    King, 
G.   A.  Johnston  Ross. 


1915. 
Robert  E.  Speer, 
T.  E.  Egerton   Shore, 
Charles  R.  Watson, 
Mrs.  A.    F.   Schauffler, 
John   H.    Strong. 
George  W.  Knox 
Wilbert  W.  White, 
C.  T.  Paul. 
Tames  E.   Russell, 
T.  H.  P.  Sailer, 
John    R.    Mott. 


_  This  division  was  confirmed  by  the  action  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference 
at  its  session  in  1912. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  Board  to  nominate  the  persons  to  fill  the  vacancies 
of  those  whose  terms  expire  in  1913. 

We  regret  to  have  to  report  the  death  of  Dr.  George  William  Knox,  of 
New  York,  a  member  of  the  Board,  which  occurred  while  he  was  on  a  visit  to 
the  Orient.  Although  Dr.  Knox  never  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Board  he  was 
greatly  interested  in  the  objects  for  which  the  Board  was  created.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  nominate  a  member  to  fill  his  term,  which  expires  in  1915. 


8  MINUTES— SECOND    ANNUAL   MEETING. 

The  Director— ^[uch  time  and  effort  have  been  given  to  lind  a  Director  of 
the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  but  we  regret  to  report  that  we  are  not 
able  to  make  a  nomination  at  this  time.  One  man  well  qualified  for  the  work 
was  selected,  and  approached.  He  gave  the  proposal  careful  consideration,  but 
could  not  see  his  way  clear  to  accept. 

The  Budget — The  budget  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  and  the 
method  of  raising  the  same  was  referred  with  power  to  the  Executive  Committee, 
with  instruction  to  confer  with  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel.  After 
discussion,  a  sub-committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Mackenzie,  Chamberlain  and 
Turner  was  appointed  to  bring  the  budget  of  the  Board  before  the  Committee 
of  Reference  and  Counsel.  This  was  done  on  December  7,  191 1.  The  Committee 
of  Reference  and  Counsel,  after  discussion,  referred  the  matter  to  the  Foreign 
Missions  Conference  at  its  session  in  1912.  After  discussion,  the  Conference 
authorized  this  Board  to  "secure  such  sum  as  they  may  deem  necessary,  the  same 
not  to  exceed  $7,500  for  the  first  year,  the  methods  of  securing  this  sum  to  be 
determined  by  the  Board."  In  the  judgment  of  the  Executive  Committee  a 
budget  of  $7,500  should  be  authorized  for  1913. 

Committees  for  1912 — In  considering  the  work  to  be  done  by  the  Board  it 
was  decided  by  the  Executive  Committee  that  certain  investigations  ought  to  be 
made  in  order  that  the  problem  of  missionary  preparation  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada  might  be  freshly  studied.  It  was  felt  that  this  could  best  be  done 
through  committees,  so  the  following  committees  were  appointed : 

Committee  I — On  Plans  and  Practice  of  Foreign  Missionary  Boards  as  to  the  prepavation 
required  of  their  candidates.  (This  committee  is  directed  to  secure  also  from  the  Boards 
information  in  regard  to  the  problems  about  which  they  desire  the  help  of  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Preparation.): 

James   L.   Barton,    Chairman;   O.   E.   Brown,   Fred  P.   Haggard,   Mrs.   A.    F.    Schauffler,   T. 

E.  E.   Shore,  Robert  E.  Speer. 

Committee  II— To  Study  the  Present  Facilities  Afforded  Missionary  Candidates  in  Insti- 
tutions and  "Movements,"  and  to  discover  what  further  facilities  for  the  training  of  mis- 
sionary candidates  are  needed,  especially  in  the  following  subjects:  (1)  Science  and  History 
of  Missions;  (2)  Religions  of  the  World;  (3)  Sociology;  (4)  Pedagogy;  (5)  Science  of 
Language  and   Language  of   Different  Fields;    (6)    English   Bible: 

Charles  R.   Erdman,   Chairman;   E.   D.  Burton,  Wilbert  W.   White,  Miss  Helen  B.   Calder, 

F.  P.  Turner,  R.  P.  IMackay,  E.  Y.  Mullins,  Charles  R.  Watson. 

Committee  III — On  Course  of  Reading  for  Candidates  Under  Appointment  for  Foreign 
Missionary  Service  and  for  Missionaries: 

W.  I.  Chamberlain,  Chairman;  H.  P.  Beach,  Henry  C.  King,  Edward  W.  Capen,  C.  T. 
Paul,  J.  E.  Russell,  George  W.  Knox,  T.  H.  P.  Sailer 

Committee  IV — To  Define  the  Fundamental  Qualifications  for   Missionary  Work: 
W.   D.  Mackenzie,  Chairman;  James  L.    Barton.   Charles   K.    Erdman,   W.    I.   Chamberlain, 
John  R.  Mott. 

These  committees  have  made  the  investigations  expected  of  them.  The  re- 
ports of  three  of  them  have  been  printed  and  were  sent  to  all  the  members  of  the 
Board  a  few  days  ago.  The  report  of  Committee  III.  is  in  typewritten  form  and 
will  be  submitted  to-day. 

Report  to  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference — At  the  request  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  our  Chairman,  Dr.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  presented  the  Annual 
Report  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  to  the  Foreign  Missions  Con- 
ference at  its  nineteenth  session,  which  was  held  at  Garden  City,  Long  Island, 
January  10-12.  In  addition  to  Dr.  Mackenzie's  report,  the  report  of  the  Committee 
of  Nineteen,  which  was  appointed  by  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  in  191 1  to 
organize  the  Board,  was  presented  by  Dr.  Arthur  J.  Brown,  Chairman  of  that 
committee.  These  reports  were  discussed  at  some  length  by  the  members  of  the 
Conference,  and  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  proposed  by  the  Business 
Committee,  were  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  Conference  approve  of  the  following  recommendations  in  the  Report  of 
the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation: 

1.  Membership.  That  the  classification  of  the  membership  of  the  Board,  in  accordance 
with  Sec.  Ill,  Par.  2,  of  the  Constitution  governing  the  Board  be  as  follows: 

James  L.  Barton,  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh,  O.  E.  Brown,  Edward  W.  Capen  William  I. 
Chamberlain.  Luther  II.  Gulick,  Fred  P.  Haggard.  W.  W.  Moore,  T.  R.  O  Meara,  F.  P. 
Turner,  Harlan  P.  Beach,  Addie  Grace  Wardle   (1913).  „     „  ,  ,        ^         .  r.    tj  ..»„« 

Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  R.  P.  Mackay,  Homer  C.  Stuntz,  Helen  B.  Calder,  Ernest  D.  Burton, 
W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  E.  Y.  Mullins,  C.  R.  Erdman.  Wilford  L.  Robbins,  Henry  C.  King, 
G.  A.  Johnston  Ross  (1914).  ,       „    „.  ,>,        a     ,-    c  i      a^.-    t«i.o 

Robert  E.  Speer,  T.  E.  Edgerton  Shore.  Charles  R.  Watson.  Mrs.  A.  K  Schauffler,  John 
H  Strong,  George  W.  Knox,  Wilbert  W.  White,  C.  T.  Paul,  James  E.  Russell,  T.  H.  I'. 
Sailer,  John  R.   Mott   (1915). 

2.  Officers:  That  the  nomination  of  W.  D.  Mackenzie  as  Chairman,  and  F.  P.  T"'"""' 
as  Honorary  Secretarv,  to  serve  until  the  meeting  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  in  iwis 
be  confirmed.     (See  Constitution,  Sec.  Ill,  Par.  4.) 


MlxMUTES-SECOND   ANNUAL   MEETING.  9 

methods  of  secunng  this  sum  to  be  determined  by  the   noa^dofMi^f    *"'"' J^^'^    ^912),   the 
(See  pages  49-72.   Foreign   Missions   Conference   Report     19120  '  ^-P-^"-- 

Of  S?t;!;r3-1afthe1^7elrlifrS^^  ""''.'  '"  ^°-^^  -^^h  the  British  Board 

Weitbrecht,  tL  SecrSar  -  He  ^af  JenfTo' "'''"".^'^  '^'  ^"^^"^^^  °f  D'"-  H.  U 
their  executive  and  of  their  amTuaTLetL^^^^^^^^^  °^  /'^^  '^^^^'"8^  «f 

work  of  the  British  Board  thrntw^'  ^^  ^^^^  "'  informed  as  to  plans  and 

time  of  his  visifto  Lo'di'ii^FluaT  ^""^1  ™^"^'-     ^'  ^'- 

opportunity  for  conferenc-  witli  Hr  \a7'.k^  ,'  ^^  Honorary  Secretary  had  the 
the  Chairnian  of  t  e  VxecuTive  ?n^;S''''''i'l\^^  '' '^  ^^e  Rev.  Dn  Kilgour, 
Mott  was  present  and ^Jave  an  adTrSs  .t  fL  x  ^"5't  ^°^''^-  ^r.  John  R.' 
Board  in  March,  1912.  ""^  *''^  ^"^"""^^  Meeting  of  the   British 

mend^'atir- '"^^'^■""-'^'^    ^--^'^    Committee    offer   the    followit 


i'lng   recom- 


persons  ^oIllthe^v^a^a'de's^Mh^^^^^^^^^  appointed.,    (1)    To  nominate 

nominate  a  member  'o  ill  the  vacTncv  can  phT 'f,''"''/'^'l'''";V9^^-  (2)  To 
Knox,  whose  term  expires  inioi-  r^^  T^  ^  *  '^  ^^^^l  ^^  D""-  George  W. 
Committee  for  the  yea ,^19 13    ^^^     ^^^  ^°  "ommate  the  officers  and  Executive 

2.  That  a  budget  of  $7,500  be  authorized  for  1913. 

3.  That  a  Director  of  the  Board  be  secured  as  soon  as  possible 

form';  oY  T*e  feponV°^:cZZr''"'%'''  ,""''°"'«''  '<>  f»«  in  pamphlet 
sionar,  ^dicla,e7°'(^)° Vt  B^b™  ,h;'\v^"e"ATerared°hv1if ""°"=  ■?/  ^'^- 
Courses  of  Reading  for  Missionary  Candidates       "'^'"""^  ^>   ""^  committee,  on 

niissL:st^L^:K/s:itSenr^!dS;L^^^r^'^^^^ '- ''-  -'- 

as  th'e  o^d'ef  of'^h^f"""'  '''''''"'  ""'  ^'"  ^^^^^^^  Committee  be  accepted 
Respectfully  submitted  on  behalf  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

c,.  '^^'V^llf '"li-"^,"  ^'^PP°'"ted  on  the  Committee  on  Nominations  T  H 
Strong,  C.  R.  Erdman,  Miss  Helen  B.  Calder  •^" 

On  motion  of  Dr.  King,  the  programme  arranged  by  the  Executive 
ofThTda"  "'"""'''  '-■  ^'^  ^^^^^^^^>'  ^-^  ^^-Pt'd  as  d'orde? 

discuYs^ed'stllow:-  '"  ''''''''  ^^  ^'^^  ^^"^^^^"-^  --  ---d  and 

_  The  Report  of  Committee  I,  on  "plans  and  practice  of  foreign  mis- 
sionary boards  as  to  the  preparation  required  of  their  candidates  "  was 
presented  by  Dr.  James  L.  Barton,  chairman. 

The  Report  was  discussed  by  Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson  and  Dr  T  E 
Edgerton  Shore,  who  spoke  "from  the  viewpoint  of  a  secretary  of  a 
mission  board." 

President  H.  C.  King  and  Prof.  PI.  P.  Beach  continued  the  dis- 
cussion speaking  "from  the  viewpoint  of  an  educationalist  studying  the 
work  of  the  missionaries  on  the  mission  field." 

Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer  spoke  on  "Specialization  in  the  preparation  of 
the  foreign  missionary  candidate." 

.X.  .J!'Vrl^'''^J^'  ^^'°  discussed  by  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  President 
W.  W.  White,  Prof.  E.  W.  Capen  and  Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer. 

Prof.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  chairman,  presented  the  report  of  Com- 


10  MINUTES-SECOND   ANNUAL   MEETING. 

mittee  II,  to  "study  the  present  facilities  afforded  missionary  candidates 
in  institutions  and  '  Movements,'  and  to  discover  what  further  f aciUties 
for  the  training  of  missionary  candidates  are  needed,  especially  in  the 
following  subjects  :  (i)  Science  and  History  of  Missions ;  (2)  ReHgions 
of  the  World;  (3)  Sociology;  (4)  Pedagogy;  (5)  Science  of  Language 
and  Language  on  Different  Fields ;  (6)  English  Bible." 

The  discussion  of  the  report  was  opened  by  the  consideration  of 
the  question  "Is  it  feasible  to  add  the  equivalent  of  a  year's  special  work 
in  missions  to  the  present  theological  curriculum,  or  can  this  special 
training  only  be  secured  by  requiring  missionary  candidates  to  take  an 
extra  year  of  study?" 

A  paper  on  this  subject,  prepared  by  Prof.  Ernest  D.  Burton,  who 
could  not  be  present,  was  read  by  the  Secretary. 

Dr.  R.  P.  Mackay  and  Prof.  John  H.  Strong  spoke  to  the  question. 

The  question,  "Where  should  the  special  training  for  missionary 

candidates  be  provided  ?    In  schools  in  the  homeland  or  on  the  mission 

field?"  was  considered  by  Prof.  C.  T.  Paul,  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer  and 

Dr.  Edward  W.  Capen. 

Dr.  Fred  P.  Haggard  spoke  on  "How  shall  the  expense  of  special 
missionary  training  required  of  missionary  candidates  be  provided?  Is 
this  a  proper  charge  on  the  regular  income  of  a  Missionary  Society?" 
The  following  members  of  the  Board  took  part  in  the  discussion : 
Drs.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  W.  W.  White,  T.  E.  E.  Shore,  C.  R.  Watson.  H.  C. 
King,  James  L.  Barton,  F.  P.  Haggard  and  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie. 

The  Report  of  Committee  III,  on  "Courses  of  reading  for  candi- 
dates under  appointment  for  foreign  missionary  service,"  presented  by 
Dr.  W.  I.  Chamberlain,  Chairman. 

The  report  was  discussed  by  Drs.  C.  R.  Erdman,  H.  C.  King,  H.  P. 
Beach,  W.  W.  White,  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  R.  P.  Mackay,  R.  E. 
Speer,' F.  P.  Haggard,  T.  E.  E.  Shore  and  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross. 

At  the  request  of  the  Chairman,  it  was  agreed  that  all  members 
of  the  Board  should  send  to  the  Chairman  suggestions  regarding 
courses  of  reading  and  the  bibliography  before  December  20,  1912. 

Report  on  Committee  IV,  to  define  the  fundamental  qualifications 
for  missionary  work  was  presented  by  President  W.  D.  Mackenzie. 

Chairman.  .       ,^.      .^_.  , 

The  report  was  discussed  by  President  W.  W.  White,  Miss  Helen 

B.  Cakler  and  Prof.  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Nominations  was  adopted  as 

follows : 
Your  Committee  on  Nominations  would  respectfully  report  as  follows: 

T      Tn  fill  vacancies  due  to  the  expiration  of  term  of  office  of  James  L.  Barton. 

Wardle.     Terms  will  expire  m  1916. 

2  To  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Professor  George  W.  Knox, 
term  expiring  in  191S,  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D. 

,  The  Officers:  For  Chairman,  W.  D  Mackenzie;  Honorary  Secretary, 
F.  P  Turner;  for  Treasurer,  William  I.  Chamberlam. 


MINUTES— SECOND    ANNUAL   MEETING.  11 

4.  The  Executive  Committee  to  be  composed  of  the  officers  and  James  L. 
Barton,  E.  D.  Burton,  John  R.  Mott,  Charles  R.  Erdman,  T.  E.  E.  Shore  and 
Mrs.  A.  F.  Scliauffler. 

(Signed)  John  H.  Strong, 

Charles   R.   Erdman, 
Helen  B.  Calder, 
Committee  on  Nomin-ations. 

On  motion  it  was  agreed  that  the  date  of  the  next  annual  meeting 
should  be  determined  by  the  Executive  Committee  as  soon  as  the  date 
of  the  Continuation  Cojnmittee  meeting  to  be  hid  in  Holland  in  191 3  is 
announced. 

It  was  moved  that  the  matter  of  nominating  a  Director  of  the 
Board  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee  with  power. 

On  motion,  the  Executive  Committee  was  authorized  to  raise 
money  for  the  expenses  of  the  Board  for  191 3  not  to  exceed  $7,500. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  F.  P.  Haggard,  the  following  action  was  taken  re- 
garding publications : 

1.  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized  to  publish  a  report  of  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  to  include  the  committee  reports  presented  at 
the  second  annual  meeting  and  discussions  of  same. 

2.  That  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  be  authorized  to  issue  in  pamphlet 
form,  without  expense  to  the  Board:  (i)  The  report  of  the  Committee  on 
Fundamental  Qualifications  of  Missionary  Candidates,  and  (2)  the  Bibliography 
on  Courses  of  Reading  for  Missionary  Candidates. 

3.  That  this  report  and  the  pamphlets  be  made  available  for  the  mission 
boards  and  distributed  as  widely  as  possible  in  such  manner  as  the  Executive 
Committee  may  determine. 

The  proposal  of  Dr.  Sailer  that  a  pamphlet  be  prepared  by  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  for  the  use  of  Student  Volunteers 
"specifying  courses  and  lines  of  reading  that  would  be  most  useful  for 
evangelistic,  medical  or  educational  work."  was  referred  to  the  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

The  suggestion  that  meetings  for  the  purpose  of  informing  officers, 
members  and  friends  of  the  Mission  Boards  regarding  the  work,  plans 
and  ideals  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  be  held  in  centers 
which  are  the  headquarters  of  the  Mission  Boards  was  referred  to  the 
Executive  Committee. 

Professor  Erdman  proposed  the  change  of  the  name  of  the  Board, 

and   after  considerable  discussion  and  a  number   of  suggestions  the 

following    resolution,    proposed    by    Dr.    Barton,    was    unanimously 

adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Foreign  A-Iissions  Conference 
in  January,  1913,  be  asked  to  change  the  name  of  the  Board  of  Studies  to  the 
"Board  of  Missionary  Preparation   (for  North  America)." 

Dr.  H,  C.  King  led  in  prayer,  after  which  the  Board  adjourned. 


ACTION  BY  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  CONFERENCE 

At  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference,  which  met  at  Garden  City, 
Long  Island,  on  January  17,  1913,  an  hour  was  set  aside  for  the  presen- 
tation of  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation. 

Dr.  Mackenzie  spoke  on  the  work  of  the  Board  during  the  year 
1912.  Dr.  Barton  presented  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  "Plan 
and  Practice  of  Foreign  Missionary  Boards  as  to  the  preparation  re- 
quired of  their  candidates."  In  the  absence  of  Drs.  Erdman  and  Cham- 
berlain, Mr.  F.  P.  Turner  presented  the  reports  of  their  committees. 

The  following  items  of  business  which,  under  the  Constitution  of 
the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  require  action  of  the  Conference 
were  presented  by  F.  P.  Turner : 

I  The  following  persons  are  nominated  to  Ml  the  vacancies  caused  by 
expiration  of  terms  of  office:  James  L.  Barton  Harlan  P.  Beach,  Martm  G. 
Brumbaugh,  O.  E.  Brown,  Edward  W.  Capen,  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Luther  H. 
Gulick,  Fred.  P.  Haggard,  W.  W.  Moore,  T.  R.  O'Meara,  F.  P.  Turner,  Addie 
Grace  Wardle.     (Term  expires  in  1916.)      ,,,,.,  ^  ,,r    Tr„^^ 

2.  To  fill  the  unexpired  term  caused  by  the  death  of  George  W.  Knox, 
expiring  in  1915,  Frank  Mason  North.  -ur    t->       1  . 

^  The  following  officers  are  nominated  for  1913 :  Chairman,  W  Douglas 
Mackenzie;    Honorary    Secretary,    Fennell    P.    Turner;    Treasurer,    William    I. 

^T  ^If^the  work  of  the  Board  is  carried  on  as  it  should  be  with  a  Director,  a 
budget  of  not  less  than  $7,500  will  be  required.  Authority  is  asked  by  the 
Executive  Committee  to  secure  that  sum  if  it  be  needed.       _  ^     c  .^^ 

5.  By  unanimous  action  of  the  Board,  we  ask  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Forei-n  Missions  Conference  to  change  the  name  of  the  Board  to  the  follovvmg. 
The '^Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  (for  North  America).".  The  experience 
of  the  past  year  shows  that  this  change  of  name  is  necessary  in  order  to  avoid 
confusion. 

Favorable  action  was  unanimously  taken  by  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference  on  all  of  the  above  items. 


12 


PART    II 

OPENING  ADDRESS 

By  Chairman  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie 

Brethren  you  will  see  that  the  Executive  Committee  have  put 
down  here  Statement  by  the  Chairman"  as  the  next  step  in  the  pro- 
ceedmgs  As  I  understand  it,  their  desire  was  that  I  should  say  some 
tew  words  about  the  developments  of  interest  that  have  taken  place 
durmg  the  past  year  m  the  field  of  missionary  preparation  and  indicate 
to  our  mmds  afresh  something  of  the  meaning  and  importance  of  the 
work  that  is  bemg  undertaken  by  this  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 

Naturally,  the  work  of  such  a  Board  in  an  entirely  new  field  must 
at  the  outset  be  mamly  that  of  investigation.  No  such  work  has  been 
attempted  before.  You  will  find  to-day  from  further  reports  that  will 
be  presented  to  you,  not  only  how  uncoordinated  has  been  the  work  of 
the  boards  as  from  board  to  board,  but  how  unorganized  the  work  has 
been  withm  the  boards.  This  field  seems  latterly  to  have  been  not 
neglected,  but  left  to  be  developed  along  indirect  and  traditional'  and 
sometimes  merely  occasional  lines.  Wliat  we  are  first  concerned  with 
therefore,  is  to  find  out  not  only  what  has  been  done,  but  what  can  be 
done,  and  what  ought  to  be  done  in  order  to  promote  the  cause  of 
missionary  preparation. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  must  investigate  the  matter  in  relation  to 
the  requirements,  for  the  more  we  investigate  the  more  appalling  they 
seem  to  become.  For  those  of  us  who  believe  most  in  the  need  for  such 
work  as  this  Board  is  appointed  to  carry  out  had  onlv  a  faint  conception 
of  what  that  need  is  when  we  first  came  in  contact  with  it.  It  seems  to 
grow,  It  seems  to  open  up  as  something  more  complex  and  far-reaching 
than  any  of  us  had  imagined  before.  We  have  to  find  out  exactly  what 
varieties  of  work  ought  to  be  undertaken  by  this  Board.  And  for  that 
end  we  must  find  out  how  in  the  soil  of  the  board  secretaries,  and  in  the 
sub-soil  of  the  students,  we  can  plant  this  new  seed,  and  with  what 
chemicals  we  can  treat  it  so  as  to  bring  forth  the  largest  returns.  And 
that  work  of  ours  must,  therefore,  be  unostentatious;  it  cannot  show 
Itself  in  large  outer  proportions.  But  it  can  at  the  same  time  be  work 
of  the  most  vital  and  important  sort  for  the  development  of  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise. 

pn  the  home  field  I  should  say  what  we  are  to  do  is,  first  of  all, 
to  discover  the  policy  and  practice  of  the  various  missionary  boards 
and  see  how  we  can  be  of  assistance  to  them,  if  they  need  any  assistance 
in  the  matter.  The  various  educational  institutions  which  have  to 
do  with  the  students  that  are  going  abroad  as  missionaries,  men  and 
women  alike,  will  they  receive  our  assistance?  Can  we  really  offer 
them  any  help  that  is  of  value?     Can  we  bring  or  be  the  means  of 

13 


14  OPENING  ADDRESS. 

bringing  them  into  closer  relations  with  the  boards,  and  the  boards 
with  them?  Can  we  promote  a  more  real  and  intimate  cooperation, 
so  that  the  result  shall  be  better  missionaries  both  of  the  ordained 
and  of  the  unordained  or  lay  classes  ?  And  then,  ultimately,  we  shall 
have  to  perhaps  ask  ourselves  whether  we  can  do  anything  for  the 
students;  but  I  think  the  Executive  Committee  is  clear  that  that  is 
the  most  delicate  and  difficult  of  all  the  departments  of  work  that  we 
can  attempt  to  undertake,  and  that  we  should  concentrate  our  atten- 
tion first  of  all  upon  the  boards  and  institutions.  At  present  we  should 
be  in  danger  of  interfering  alike  with  institutions  and  with  the  boards, 
perhaps  in  illegitimate  and  unfortunate  ways,  if  we  should  undertake 
direct  communication  with  the  student  world,  so  as  to  influence  indi- 
viduals regarding  their  courses  of  study  and  their  methods  of  prepara- 
tion. So  far  as  I  can  see,  that  must  be  done  only  incidentally  at  pres- 
ent and  not  as  a  normal  task  of  this  Board. 

Now,  how  is  the  idea  of  special  missionary  preparation  getting 
on  ?  It  is  only  two  and  a  half  years  since  the  report  which  has  created 
this  whole  movement  was  presented  before  the  Edinburgh  Conference. 
How  in  the  meantime  has  that  idea  been  growing?  Let  me  refer  to 
the  fact,  which  some  of  you  may  not  be  intimate  with,  though  prac- 
tically all  are,  here,  I  think,  that  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  held  its  second  meeting  in  this  country  at  Lake 
Mohonk  on  September  26th  to  October  2d ;  that  seventeen  out  of  the 
twenty-two  European  members  of  that  committee  were  actually  pres- 
ent :  that  all  of  the  North  American  members  were  present ;  that  one 
substitute  member,  without  vote,  was  present  from  Australia,  and  that 
in  this  way  twenty-eight  out  of  thirty-one  members  of  the  Board  of  the 
Continuation  Committee— which,  you  remember,  is  international  and 
draws  its  members  from  all  over  the  world — twenty-eight  out  of  thirty- 
one  were  actually  present  at  Lake  Mohonk.  That  is  a  very,  very  signi- 
ficant fact,  I  think,  for  the  great  conception  of  cooperation  which  is  in 
the  air,  and  must  have  tremendous  influence  upon  the  whole  missionary 

movement. 

The  report  of  that  Conference  at  Lake  Mohonk  contains  two 
references  to  the  work  of  missionary  preparation,  to  which  you  will 
allow  me  in  a  word  or  two  to  refer.  On  page  13  of  their  brief  report 
they  refer  to  the  relation  of  the  Continuation  Committee  to  the  Boards 
of  Study,  and  their  resolution  or  conclusion  reads  as  follows : 

"In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Boards  of  Study  in  Great  Britain  and  America, 
though  now  independent,  owed  their  origin  to  the  Edinburgh  Conference  through 
he  Continuation  Committee,  it  appeared  advisable  that  the  Contmuation  Com- 
mittee should  be  kept  in  touch  with  their  work.  It  was  resolved  that  time  should 
™e  aHowed  at  meetings  of  the  Continuation  Committee  to  receive  brief  reports 
f?om  each  Board  of  Study,  and  the  Boards  of  StucW  should  be  asked  to  include 
amSig  their  members  at  least  two  members  of  the  Continuation  Committee  with 
n?ew  to  creating  a  link  between  their  work  and  that  of  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee." 

That  condition  is  fulfilled  already,  as  I  think  several  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Board  are  members  of  the  Continuation  Committee. 

A  report  was  presented  by  Dr.  Hodgkin,  who  was  with  us  las 
vear  at  our  first  meeting,  on  the  work  which  he  specially  is  interested 
in  through  a  committee  of  the  Board  in  England  and  a  separate  corre- 
sponding committee  on  this  side.  He  presented  the  printed  report  of 
a  committee  on  training  schools  for  missionaries  on  the  field.  I  wish 
this  Board  to  let  me  read  now  the  sentence  in  which  he  names  the 
special   school    or  attempted   and    experimental    schools    which   have 


OPENING  ADDRESS.  15 

arisen  within  the  last  few  years  in  various  parts  of  the  mission  field. 
He  said  that 

"Correspondence  had  taken  place  with  the  Peking  School  of  Language 
Study,  the  Chengtu  Language  School,  the  China  Inland  Mission  Training  Schools 
at  Nanking  and  Yangchow,  the  proposed  School  for  Advanced  Study  at  Shang- 
hai, the  Shanghai  School  of  Study  in  February,  1912,  the  Tokyo  Language 
School,  the  Winter  School  of  Language  at  Lucknow,  the  proposed  Summer 
School  for  Women  in  North  India,  the  proposed  School  of  Languages  at  Banga- 
lore, the  proposed  School  for  Marathi  at  Poona,  and  the  School  of  Arabic  Study 
in  Cairo." 

Now  there  is  a  very  wonderful  growth  of  young  institutions — 
some  of  them  purely  experimental  and  no  doubt  going  to  fade 
away,  but  sure  to  give  place  to  others — a  very  wonderful  growth 
of  such  institutions,  which  are  all  of  them  interdenominational, 
all  of  them  the  outcome  of  a  hunger  and  a  demand  on  the  field, 
all  of  them  a  demand  for  a  higher  and  more  efficient  mastery  of  the 
actual  instruments  of  missionary  labor.  All  of  them  have  sprung  up 
Avithin  such  a  very  brief  time  that  their  number  and  their  enthusiasm 
and  their  interdenominational  character,  and,  as  it  were,  their  spon- 
taneity of  existence,  must  be  very  significant  for  the  work  of  our 
Board. 

As  examples  of  work  on  the  field  here  is  a  report  of  the  Shanghai 
Union  Language  School,  which  met  last  February,  and  which  enrolled 
on  that  occasion,  from  February  7th  to  March  ist,  no  less  than  171 
missionary  students  at  Shanghai.  Of  these,  125  took  special  studies 
during  those  weeks  in  Mandarin  and  forty-six  in  the  Wu  dialects.  The 
result  of  the  school  was  such  and  the  efifect  of  it  was  so  powerful  that 
they  proposed  immediately  to  create  a  permanent  school,  and  steps 
were  taken  towards  it.  The  steps  taken  have  resulted  in  a  bulletin  of 
the  University  of  Nanking,  which  shows  that  the  University  of  Nan- 
king is  ready  to  establish  a  "department  of  missionary  training."  That 
is  the  title  they  give  to  it.  They  have  appointed  a  dean,  and  are  throw- 
ing open  their  class  rooms  and  some  of  their  dormitories  for  an  experi- 
mental year.  And  they  propose  to  have  special  buildings  and  a  special 
organization  as  a  department  of  the  University  of  Nanking  if  this 
year's  work  should  be  successful.  They  propose  to  have  a  six  months' 
session,  and  the  daily  schedule,  they  say,  will  be  given  to  the  students 
at  the  opening  of  the  term.  It  will  include  the  study  of  phonetics, 
methods  of  study,  idiom  and  grammar,  conversation,  etc.,  a  series  of 
lectures  on  the  Chinese  language,  and  lectures  on  the  general  training 
of  missionaries  as  well  as  some  guides  in  English  reading  concerning 
Chinese  usages  and  customs.  That  plan  has  no  doubt  entered  upon  its 
experimental  stage  at  Nanking,  and  our  brethren  are  at  work  upon  it 
even  now. 

Elsewhere  similar  experiments  are  also  being  made.  At  Bangalore 
in  India  a  school  is  being  started  by  five  missionary  societies  to  teach 
five  of  the  vernaculars  belonging  to  the  region  of  southern  India,  in- 
cluding Tamil,  Telugu,  and  so  on.  The  religions  of  India  must  be 
studied.  A  course  of  lectures  extending  over  three  months  will  be 
arranged  for,  in  which  Hinduism,  Buddhism  and  Islam  will  be  pre- 
sented in  outline.  Some  work  will  be  offered  in  their  ancient  classics. 
The  probability  is  that  they  will  also  offer  lectures  on  the  Dravidian 
languages,  giving  attention  to  phonetics,  idioms,  structure  of  sentences, 
comparative  grammar,  and  such  subjects  as  will  enable  a  student  in- 
telligently to  begin  the  study  of  any  of  the  Dravidian  languages. 

Further,  an  experiment  is  also  being  made  at  Poona,  where  again 
five  societies  are  engaged  in  the  work,  and  where  they  are  going  to 


16  OPENING  ADDRESS. 

undertake  language  instruction  and  the  stud)'  of  religions.  There  they 
propose  to  prepare  students  to  pass  the  examinations  that  are  already 
held,  and  are  being  made  gradually  more  severe,  by  an  interdenomi- 
national board  of  missionaries. 

To  come  to  the  home  lands  again,  the  work  of  our  brother  board 
of  study  in  England  has  made  good  progress.  They  have  been  for- 
tunate to  secure  the  service  of  Canon  Weitbrecht  as  their  secretary  or 
director ;  and  his  investigations  must  bear  fruit,  for  they  are  energetic 
and  far-reaching,  and  are  carried  on  with  much  earnestness  and  in- 
telligence. They  have  drawn  up  a  very  elaborate  bibliography  of  the 
literature  on  Mohammedanism  and  expect  to  make  that  of  the  utmost 
value  to  those  who  are  entering  upon  that  enormous  field  of  study  and 
of  special  preparation.  Last  August  they  held  for  four  weeks  a 
summer  school  at  Oxford.  At  this  school  fifty-two  students  were 
present,  thirty-three  men  and  nineteen  women,  from  all  over  the  world, 
from  ever  so  many  different  societies.  Ten  of  them  were  missionaries 
on  furlough.  The  program  was  drawn  up  very  powerfully,  and  they 
got  first-class  men  and  women  to  lecture  to  these  students.  The  result 
seems  to  have  been  very  good  indeed,  and  they  are  beginning  to  arrange 
for  a  similar  school  to  be  held  at  Queen's  College,  Cambridge,  next 
summer. 

What  we  have  attempted  will  be  read  before  you  by  our  Secretary. 
We  have  carefully  considered  the  matter  of  a  director,  and  he  will 
report  results  on  that.  The  Executive  Committee  also  engaged  in 
what  seems  our  preliminary  task,  the  opening  up  of  certain  investiga- 
tions, the  results  of  which  are  before  you  in  these  galley  proofs  of  four 
reports  which  we  ask  you  to  consider  to-day. 

Brethren,  the  work  grows  in  significance,  and  I  feel  that  to-day  we 
ought  to  have  far  more  encouragement  regarding  it  than  we  had  last 
year.  All  over  the  missionary  field,  and  throughout  the  life  of  our 
iiome  boards,  and  throughout  the  institutions  that  are  concerned  with 
the  preparation  of  students,  the  significance  of  this  matter  is  much 
more  deeply  felt  to-day  than  it  was  a  year  ago.  The  problems  become 
more  difficult.  Things  that  seemed  easy  at  first  will  not  seem  so  easy 
when  we  begin  actually  to  undertake  them.  But  I  believe  no  man  can 
come  here,  however  far  he  has  come  to  this  Board  meeting,  without 
having  the  right  to  feel  that  he  is  contributing  by  his  presence  and  his 
interest  and  his  work  to  a  movement  of  very  great  significance  for  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord.  It  will  grow.  The  task  before  us,  as  I  said 
before,  is  so  entirely  new  that  it  must  take  some  time  before  we  begin 
to  see  what  it  really  is;  but  that  there  is  something  there,  something 
great  to  be  done,  something  demanding  our  time,  our  devotion  and  our 
most  intelligent  sympathy  can  be  less  doubted  to-day  than  at  any  previ- 
ous period  of  our  investigations  into  this  matter. 


REPORT    OF    COMMITTEE     I 

ON  PRESENT  PLAN  AND  PRACTICE  OF  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY  BOARDS 
AS  TO  THE  PREPARATION   REQUIRED  OF  THEIR  CANDIDATES 

Members  of  the  Committee: — Dr.  James  L.  Barton,  Chairman;  Prof. 
O.  E.  Brown,  Dr.  F.  P.  Haggard,  Mrs.  A.  F.  Schauffler,  Dr.  T.  E.  E.  Shore, 
Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer. 

Presented  by  Dr.  James  L.  Barton,  Chairman 

Dr.  Barton :  It  is  taken  for  granted  that  you  all  have  this  report 
in  your  hands.  I  will  not  read  it.  I  will  call  attention,  however,  to 
a  few  things  that  the  report  has  attempted. 

We  are  reaching  a  third  stage  in  missionary  work.  The  first  was 
endeavor  for  territory,  trying  to  get  into  the  world;  the  second,  for 
resources  of  men  and  of  money ;  and  now  we  have  come  to  the  third. 
I  think  the  formation  of  this  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  and  a 
similar  Board  in  Great  Britain  proclaims  the  third  stage,  "efficiency." 
I  doubt  if  we  have  hitherto  put  the  emphasis  upon  efficiency  that  the 
subject  demanded.  This  Board  itself,  created  by  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference  of  North  America,  indicates  a  feeling  on  the  part  of  mis- 
sionary societies  that  there  is  a  necessity  at  the  present  time  for  in- 
creasing efficiency.  It  is  the  cry  of  business,  it  is  the  cry  of  organiza- 
tions, and  it  has  become  the  cry  of  the  missionary  societies. 

Everybody  will  agree,  I  have  no  question,  that  the  strength  of 
missionary  work  abroad  depends  under  God  upon  the  efficiency  of  the 
missionary  force.  It  is  not  dependent  upon  numbers,  it  is  not  de- 
pendent upon  the  money  that  the  missionary  societies  have,  but  it  is 
dependent  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  missionary  force  put  into  the  field ; 
and  I  think  without  question  we  would  all  agree  that  a  small — ^but 
efficient — missionary  force  will  be  far  more  effective  in  the  volume 
and  permanency  of  the  work  accomplished,  than  a  much  larger  but 
inefficient  missionary  force,  and  be  much  less  expensive.  That  appar- 
ently is  the  ground  upon  which  we  can  all  start  and  upon  which  the 
missionary  boards  agree. 

We  come  now  to  the  investigation  of  this  Committee  on  the  "Plan 
and  Practice  of  Foreign  Missionary  Boards  as  to  the  Preparation  Re- 
quired of  their  Candidates."  The  Committee  covered  in  its  investi- 
gation four  distinct  points.  First,  as  to  what  the  requirements  are  on 
the  part  of  the  various  missionary  societies ;  second,  as  to  the  means 
available  for  the  securing  of  those  requirements  in  candidates ;  third, 
as  to  what  the  boards  themselves  are  doing  in  the  matter  of  the  pre- 
paration of  their  candidates ;  and,  fourth,  as  to  what  this  Board  of 
Studies  should  do  in  aiding  missionary  societies  and  securing  better 
equipment  of  their  missionary  bodies.  Those  were  covered  in  a  ques- 
tionaire  that  was  sent  out.  The  replies  received  came  from  the  mis- 
sionary  societies  representing  at  least  five-sixths  of   the  missionary 

17 


18  COMMITTEE    L— INTRODUCTION. 

work  of  North  America,  and  from  the  leading  secretaries  in  those  so- 
cieties, so  that  it  seems  to  me  that  we  may  regard  the  repHes  as  being 
generahy  complete  and  representing  on  the  whole  the  judgment  of  the 
missionary  societies  in  North  America. 

We  found  in  the  investigation  that  missionary  boards  are  con- 
scious of  the  need  of  better  equipment  in  their  missionaries.  The 
secretaries,  almost  without  exception,  declare  that  the  equipment  of 
their  candidates  is  not  equal  to  the  requirements.  For  the  Board,  which 
I  represent,  I  can  say  that  we  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  in  trying  to 
fit  candidates  into  places  where  their  equipment  will  enable  them  to 
render  the  most  effective  service.  I  was  a  long  time  yesterday  trying 
to  fit  into  a  place  a  man  who  for  seven  years,  we  now  learn,  has  been 
regarding  himself  as  a  missionary  candidate.  He  has  offered  himself 
now.  He  has  made  no  attempt  at  special  preparation  for  the  work, 
and  we  are  trying  to  find  a  place  in  which  the  candidate,  a  most  worthy 
man,  can  use  his  talent  and  his  unbalanced  equipment  to  the  highest 
advantage  for  the  work ;  I  have  no  doubt  that  every  secretary  here  will 
acknowledge  that  much  time  is  spent  in  trying  to  find  a  place  for  a 
candidate  rather  than  a  workman  for  a  task.  We  are  not  out  looking 
for  men  to  do  a  certain  thing,  but  we  are  trying  to  fit  men  whom  we 
have  found  to  do  a  certain  work.  It  is  much  like  a  person  setting  out 
to  erect  a  great  structure,  who  first  goes  out  and  finds  columns,  pillars, 
doorposts  and  steel  beams  and  all  that,  and  assembles  them ;  and  then 
he  studies  the  kind  of  building  he  can  erect  out  of  the  material  he  has 
gathered  together,  instead  of  starting  out  with  a  plan  for  the  building 
and  securing  the  columns  and  beams  and  the  doorposts  and  the  ma- 
terial that  the  building  is  going  to  require  in  order  to  be  complete  and 
effective  and  accomplish  the  object  of  its  construction.  In  looking  over 
the  information  received  from  missionary  societies  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  officers  of  these  societies  are  conscious  of  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  trying  to  make  the  most  possible  out  of  the  material  that  has  come 
to  them. 

Pardon  a  reference  to  my  own  case.  When  I  went  into  the  mis- 
sion field  in  the  Turkish  Empire  I  never  had  a  word  said  to  me  by  the 
missionary  society  in  regard  to  my  preparation — not  a  word.  I  had 
never  heard  a  lecture  or  read  a  book  on  Mohammedanism,  and  I  was 
sent  to  Turkey.  I  knew  nothing  of  missionary  work  in  Turkey  except 
as  I  hunted  for  and  found  some  books  on  Turkey  after  I  had  been 
appointed.  And  I  think  that  if  we  should  investigate  the  missionaries 
that  went  out  up  to  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  we  should  find  that,  apart 
from  the  work  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  as  far  as  the 
mission  board  was  concerned  they  had  received  no  equipment  for  their 
work  and  but  little  suggestion  except  as  they  asked  for  it  from  the 
missionary  societies  as  to  what  equipment  was  required  for  the  work  in 
the  field.  So,  for  the  first  point,  the  societies  are  agreed  that  the  equip- 
ment is  inadequate. 

They  are  also  agreed  that  the  institutions  from  which  their  can- 
didates come  are  not  providing  these  candidates  with  the  equipment 
which  they  themselves  require  in  their  candidates  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  work  they  are  appointed  to  undertake.  There  seems  to  be 
one  universal  testimony  to  that  end,  as  you  will  find  detailed  in  the 
report. 

The  third  point,  the  question  as  to  what  the  boards  are  doing,  has 
already  been  referred  to  in  part.  It  is  an  astonishing  fact  that  the  mis- 
sionary societies  of  North  America,  which,  I  believe,  according  to  the 
revised  figures,  use  perhaps  twenty  millions  of  dollars  a  year  in  their 


COMMITTEE    I.— INTRODUCTION.  19 

work,  are  doing  practically  nothing  to  equip  the  men  and  women  whom 
they  send  out  for  the  work  to  which  they  are  appointed,  although  they 
are  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  success  of  that  work  depends  pri- 
marily upon  the  efficiency  of  the  force  they  appoint  to  the  service.  Not 
a  missionary  society  is  systematically  doing  anything  for  the  equipment 
of  its  missionary  body. 

In  our  own  Board — and  I  want  to  make  a  confession  at  the  same 
time  that  I  make  this  statement — in  our  own  Board  a  few  years  ago  it 
was  almost  heresy  to  attempt  to  do  anything  to  prepare  a  candidate  for 
his  work.  It  was  expected  that  the  men  and  women  who  applied  would 
be  led  under  the  providence  of  God  to  apply,  and  it  was  regarded  as 
unorthodox  to  go  out  and  seek  men  and  women  for  particular  places. 
Now  that  is  within  my  memory ;  that  is,  within  a  decade. 

And  much  less  do  these  boards  do  anything  to  prepare  these  men 
and  women  for  the  service.  Over  and  over  again  in  answer  to  the 
question,  "Has  your  board  any  policy  as  to  aiding  candidates  in  their 
preparation  for  the  missionary  service  under  your  board?"  the  reply, 
"We  have  no  policy  whatever;  we  advise  candidates  when  they  seek 
advice."  Almost  the  universal  statement  given  is,  "We  advise  when 
they  seek  advice."  And  if  the  advice  was  as  efficient  as  some  that  the 
candidates  applying  to  the  American  Board  got  from  its  secretaries, 
who  themselves  have  given  no  great  attention  to  this  subject,  it  was 
most  inadequate  for  preparation  for  a  life  work  under  the  board.  So 
that  we  can  put  down  as  the  policy  of  the  missionary  societies  as 
demonstrated  by  these  replies  that  have  come  up  to  the  present  hour 
that  there  is  no  policy  with  reference  to  the  equipment  and  preparation 
of  missionary  candidates  under  the  boards. 

I  need  not  longer  dwell  upon  this  point.  It  is  a  fact  that  confronts 
us,  and  it  is  a  fact  showing  the  tremendous  importance  of  having  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  to  do  this  first  work  with  and  for  the 
missionary  societies :  to  learn  what  their  requirements  are  and  to  se- 
cure their  cooperation  with  this  Board  in  an  effort  to  produce  better 
trained  candidates  for  the  service  to  which  they  are  appointed. 

The  question  was  asked  as  to  how  this  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  can  best  aid  the  missionary  societies.  I  will  not  dwell  upon 
that,  but  there  was  one  universal  reply,  expressing  great  satisfaction 
that  the  Board  had  been  created  and  a  great  expectation  that  the  Board 
would  be  of  continuous  and  effective  service  to  the  secretaries  and  to 
the  missionary  societies  in  the  training  of  their  own  candidates  for  the 
work  for  which  they  are  to  be  appointed.  I  think  we  can  depend  upon 
this  Board  receiving  the  hearty  and  cordial  cooperation  of  the  mission- 
ary societies  of  North  America  in  its  endeavor,  first,  to  bring  the  socie- 
ties up  to  a  high  conception  of  the  importance  of  an  adequate  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  to  be  done,  and  then  to  put  into  their  hands  means 
by  which  they  can  best  secure  the  equipment  in  their  candidates  that 
they  require  for  the  work.  That  is  very  clear.  That  means  that  this 
Board's  first  endeavor,  as  it  seems  to  me  from  these  returns,  is  to  estab- 
lish a  standard.  Now  that  does  not  mean  a  wooden,  formal  standard, 
but  a  standard  in  the  minds  of  the  officers  of  the  missionary  societies 
of  America,  and  a  standard  which  students  and  the  prospective  candi- 
dates will  at  once  recognize,  and  to  which  they  will  conform  their 
own  preparation — a  standard  which  the  schools  in  which  missionary 
candidates  are  trained  will  recognize  and  to  which  they  will  adapt  their 
curricula.  The  schools  and  missionary  boards  together  can  work  to 
increase  the  efficiency  of  the  missionary  force. 

I  realize  that  there  is  a  danger  in  this  ideal.    It  is  said  that  a  busi- 


20  COMMITTEE    I.— REPORT. 

ness  firm  in  Boston  so  caught  the  idea  of  efficiency  in  business  manage- 
ment that  it  had  developed  the  most  beautiful  and  most  complete  sys- 
tems of  cross-references  and  card  catalogues  that  probably  has  ever 
been  introduced  into  any  establishment.  The  head  of  the  firm  was 
showing  a  friend  how  everything  could  be  shown  at  a  glance,  just  how 
the  business  stood.  In  response  to  a  question  he  acknowledged  that 
since  they  had  established  this  system  they  had  had  no  time  to  do  busi- 
ness, but  were  using  their  whole  force  to  maintaining  the  system.  That 
is  one  of  the  dangers  missionary  societies  and  this  Board  must  avoid. 
We  must  not  put  all  our  time  and  strength  into  producing  efficiency 
to  the  neglect  of  the  work  abroad. 

THE   REPORT 

A  series  of  questions  was  prepared  and  sent,  under  date  of  Febru- 
ary' 28,  1912,  to  the  secretaries  of  thirty-one  of  the  leading  missionary 
societies  in  North  America,  including  all  of  the  larger  societies,  accom- 
panied by  a  personal  letter  of  explanation.  Under  date  of  May  11, 
another  set  of  inquiries,  supplementing  the  first  list,  was  sent  to  the 
same  societies. 

Without  going  into  all  the  details  of  the  questionaires,  the  first 
set  called  for  information  as  to 

I — The  intellectual  qualifications  required  by  the  Board  in  those  whom  it 
appoints  for  missionary  service  abroad. 

II — Whether  the  existing  and  available  schools  are  providing  the  instruction 
and  training  their  missionary  candidates  should  have  for  their  most  successful 
work  abroad. 

Ill — Specific  deficiencies  noticed  in  candidates  with  reference  to  their  in- 
tellectual preparation. 

IV — Whether  those  who  have  not  had  a  full  theological  course  should  have 
a  more  systematic  and  thorough  training  in  Biblical  studies,  Christian  Doctrine 
and  Evidences  and  Church  History. 

V — Whether  or  not  languages  to  be  used  on  the  field  should  be  attempted 
before  sailing. 

VI — As  to  how  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  can  best  serve  the  mis- 
sionary societies  at  home  and  the  work  abroad : 

By  attempting  to  procure  in  leading  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  new 
and  more  complete  courses  of  study  in 

(i)  History  and  Principles  of  Education. 

(2)  History  and  Content  of  the  Great  Non-Christian  Religions. 

(3)  Philosophy  of  Religion. 

(4)  History  of  Modern  Missions. 

(5)  Theory  and  Practice  of  Modern  Missions. 

(6)  History  of  Leading  Missionary  Societies. 

(7)  History  of  Progress  of  Missions  in  the  Countries  for  which  the 

Candidates  are  Preparing. 

(8)  Study  of  Tropical  Conditions  and  Medicine  for  Physicians  Going 

to  the  Tropics. 

(9)  More  Thorough  Knowledge  of  the  Bible. 

(10)  Christian  Doctrine  and  Evidences. 

(11)  Phonetics. 

By  informing  the  Boards,  for  the  uses  of  their  candidates,  returned  mis- 
sionaries, etc.,  where,  and  under  what  terms  these  studies  can  be  pursued,  and 

By  the  preparation  and  publication  of  a  select  and  carefully  chosen  list  of  the 
best  and  most  recent  books  and  articles  upon  subjects  like  the  following: 

(1)  On  each  of  the  Great  Religions  of  the  World. 

(2)  On  each  of  the  Missionary  Countries  of  the  World. 

(3)  On  Education  and  Allied  Topics. 

(4)  On  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Missions. 

(5)  On  Christian  Doctrine  and  Evidences. 

(6)  On  other  subjects  that  will  be  of  general  interest  to  officers  of 

Boards,  candidates  and  missionaries. 


COMMITTEE    I.— REPORT.  21 

It  was  stated  in  conclusion  that  the  questions  were  asked  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  there  was  a  conscious  need  of  a  better  training  for  missionary  candidates 
to  prepare  them  best  to  meet  the  increasing  demands  made  upon  them  in  every 
missionary  country,  and  whether  in  some  or  all  of  the  ways  suggested  the  Board 
of  Missionary  Studies  may  be  of  real  service  to  the  secretaries,  their  candidates 
and  the  Board. 

The  second  inquiry  was  briefer  and  raised  only  three  leading 
questions : 

I — Whether  the  Board  addressed  had  a  definite  policy  with  reference  to  the 
supervision  of  the  training  of  those  who  are  prospective  candidates  for  ap- 
pointment. 

II — Whether  any  aid  to  candidates  and  newly-appointed  missionaries  is 
given  to  assist  in  meeting  their  expense  of  preparation  before  taking  up  work 
in  the  mission,  and 

III — Willingness  to  cooperate,  at  important  centers  where  missionaries  of 
dififerent  societies  are  using  a  common  language,  with  other  missions  and 
societies  in  maintaining  a  practical  and  scientific  school  for  training  newly- 
appointed  missionaries  in  the  vernacular. 

Replies  were  received  from  twenty-five  of  the  Boards  addressed, 
including  the  leading  organizations  representing  the  great  bulk  of  all 
the  missionary  interests  in  North  America.  Many  of  the  responses 
were  full,  and  covered  the  subject  with  great  care  and  thoroughness. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  this  entire  line  of  investiga- 
tion is  the  unanimity  of  the  answers  given  in  every  instance  by  expe- 
rienced secretaries,  or  officially  by  responsible  committees  to  which  the 
matter  had  been  referred.  The  fact  of  this  general  agreement  upon 
existing  conditions  and  needs  renders  unnecessary  a  full  and  detailed 
report  upon  individual  replies  or  any  attempt  at  tabulating  the  same. 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  intellectual  qualifications  required  of  candi- 
dates, some  Boards  put  more  emphasis  upon  a  complete  college  and 
seminary  course  than  do  others.  When  all  phases  and  classes  of  work 
are  considered,  embracing  all  the  modern  departmental  features  and 
including  work  for  women  and  girls  as  well  as  that  for  boys  and  men, 
almost  every  order  of  equipment  is  required. 

For  Ordained  Candidates:  For  the  ordained  service  there  is  a 
general  agreement  that  the  candidates  should  be  graduates  in  Arts, 
followed  by  a  theological  course  not  inferior  to  that  demanded  for 
ordination  in  the  home  land. 

For  Medical  Candidates:  Nearly  all  Boards  prefer  candidates 
who  have  taken  the  Arts  course  before  completing  a  full  medical  course 
in  a  reputable  medical  college,  followed  by  one  or  even  two  years  of 
hospital  experience.  Some  Boards  require,  in  addition,  a  certificate  to 
practice  medicine  in  some  state  in  this  country,  and,  in  case  of  future 
location  in  a  tropical  country,  a  full  course  in  tropical  medicine.  No 
Board  as  yet  insists  that  all  its  medical  missionaries  shall  have  secured 
the  B.A.  degree. 

For  Teachers:  For  those  appointed  for  specific  teaching  positions 
the  requirements  vary  much  in  the  practice  of  the  various  Boards.  A 
new  emphasis  is  now  being  placed  upon  normal  and  pedagogical  train- 
ing for  both  men  and  women.  Some  Boards  strongly  recommend 
courses  in  pedagogy  for  both  men  and  women  who  plan  to  go  out  as 
general  missionaries. 

For  Wives:  There  is  no  distinctive  intellectual  standard  for 
wives;  and  yet  here,  also,  there  is  a  generally  expressed  desire  that 
wives  should  have  some  special  training  in  every  instance  before  going 
to  their  field.  In  a  great  many  cases  the  wives  have  full  college 
courses.     This  is  welcomed  and  encouraged. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  all  Boards  consider  the  quality  of  the 


22  COMMITTEE    L— REPORT. 

mental  equipment,  as  well  as  character  and  quantity  of  preparation. 
It  is  impossible  even  for  a  single  Board  to  state  in  abstract  terms  the 
intellectual  qualifications  it  demands  in  its  candidates  before  they  can 
be  appointed,  and  much  less  can  this  be  done  for  the  twenty-five  Boards 
from  which  answers  were  received.  It  can,  however,  be  stated  in  a 
word  that  it  is  manifest  that  all  Boards  seek  for  the  highest  grade  of 
intellectual  excellence  in  all  of  their  candidates  for  appointment — but 
are  compelled  to  accept  many  who  fall  short  of  their  standard.  The 
following  replies  will  throw  much  light  upon  this  first  subject. 

With  reference  to  the  adequacy  of  the  available  schools  for  train- 
ing missionary  candidates,  the  replies  were  quite  complete.  Out  of 
the  entire  number  of  replies  only  one  correspondent  seemed  to  consider 
the  training  of  the  candidates  appointed  as  adequate  for  the  service 
they  were  to  render,  but  this  society  is  small  and  carries  on  work  only 
in  Latin  America.  One  other  reply  was  ambiguous,  while  all  of  the 
rest  were  emphatic  in  the  declaration  of  the  conviction  that  the  exist- 
ing facilities  for  training  missionaries  are  inadequate  and  unsatis- 
factory. 

In  order  that  the  judgment  thus  expressed  may  be  understood,  we 
quote  from  some  of  the  replies,  which  in  each  case  represents  the 
opinion  of  an  experienced  secretary  of  a  leading  missionary  society : 

"I  think  I  may  safely  say  that  our  Board  is  not  satisfied  that  the  schools  now 
available  are  giving  the  young  men  and  women,  by  way  of  instruction  and 
training,  all  that  they  need  for  their  most  successful  work  abroad." 

"I  know  of  no  school  that  is  giving  the  training  demanded  in  order  to  do 
successful  work." 

"I  am  quite  sure  that  our  ordained  ministers,  teachers  and  single  women 
are  not  receiving  the  best  training  possible  for  their  missionary  life  work. 
Our  theological  courses  are  not  prescribed  with  a  view  to  providing  adequate 
training  for  missionaries." 

"Our  schools  and  colleges  still  lack  important  lines  of  training  for  our 
appointees  to  the  mission  field." 

"My  estimate  of  the  preparatory  work  in  the  schools  now  available  would  be 
that  they  are  all  lacking  in  courses  which  look  distinctly  to  the  foreign  service. 
It  is  peculiarly  true  that  our  seminaries  have  not  as  yet  adequately  provided 
for  missionary  preparation.  This  cannot  be  done  through  occasional  lectures  in 
the  regular  course." 

"I  do  not  believe  that  the  training  (for  missionary  service)  has  been  along 
scientific  lines  as  in  other  special  fields." 

"I  do  not  think  we  can  say  that  we  are  satisfied  with  the  instruction  and 
training  given  to  our  missionaries.  The  ordained  men  have  very  little  of  special 
preparation  in  regard  to  the  religious  positions  of  the  people  to  whom  they  are 
going,  and  practically  no  training  as  to  the  corresponding  Christian  truth  which 
would  be  most  effectively  presented.  Many  enter  educational  work  without 
special  training." 

"We  are  convinced  that  the  existing  schools  for  training  missionary  candi- 
dates are  not  adequate." 

"There  are  no  schools  or  colleges  in  North  America  which  provide  the 
young  men  whom  we  wish  to  send  out  with  all  the  instruction  and  training  we 
believe  they  need  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  difficult  mission  on  which  we 
send  them." 

"From  the  point  of  view  of  our  Board  and  the  men  and  women  who  are 
planning  to  go  out,  we  feel  that  the  curricula  of  our  schools  are  not  as  they 
should  be.    There  should  be  more  opportunity  for  instruction  in  special  branches." 

"The  present  training  of  missionaries  is  not  entirely  satisfactory.  Present 
preparation  hardly  gives  all  that  is  really  needed." 

"Existing  and  availalile  schools  are  not  satisfactorily  providing  the  instruc- 
tion and  training  our  candidates  should  have  for  their  most  successful  work 
abroad." 

These  quotations  are,  in  some  cases,  condensed  and  the  details  ex- 
cluded. The  twelve  societies  whose  position  upon  this  question  is,  we 
believe,  fairly  represented  in  these  quotations,  are  supporting,  upon  the 


COMMITTEE    L— REPORT.  23 

foreign  field,  over  three- fourths  of  all  of  the  American  missionaries. 
We  have  a  right  to  assume  that  the  judgment  here  expressed  represents 
practically  the  opinion  of  the  officers  and  members  of  the  missionary 
societies  of  North  America. 

To  the  third  question,  in  reference  to  recognized  deficiencies  in  the 
intellectual  equipment  of  candidates,  there  is  also  a  full  and  illuminat- 
ing series  of  replies.  Space  will  not  permit  extended  quotations  from 
all  of  these  replies,  but  it  is  possible  to  do  justice  to  them  by  classifica- 
tion. The  most  of  the  writers  express  themselves  as  strongly  con- 
vinced that  there  should  be  more  adequate  instruction  given  to  mission- 
ary candidates  in  the  following  subjects : 

(i)  Pedagogy. 

(2)  Comparative  Religions. 

(3)  History  and  Philosophy  of  Religion. 

(4)  Study  in   detail  of  the  Religion  or  Religions  of  the  people  to 

whom  they  go. 

(5)  History  and  Characteristics  of  the  people  to  whom  they  go. 

(6)  History  of  the  missionary  movement  among  those  people. 

(7)  History    and    Methods    of    Foreign    Missions    and    other    allied 

topics. 

(8)  The  Bible. 

Several  put  especial  emphasis  upon  the  importance  of  Pedagogy. 
One  is  opposed  to  the  study  of  Comparative  Religions  and  the  History 
and  Philosophy  of  Religion,  while  two  believe  that  topics  like  the  study 
of  the  religions  of  a  people  and  their  characteristics,  etc.,  can  most 
profitably  be  studied  after  arrival  in  the  country. 

It  is  difficult  to  reveal  adequately  the  unanimity  in  expression,  as 
well  as  emphasis,  with  which  these  missionary  leaders  treat  this  sub- 
ject without  quoting  in  extenso  their  own  declarations.  These  replies 
but  show  some  of  the  reasons  for  the  position  taken  upon  the  first 
question. 

Suggestions  were  also  made  of  the  need  of  instruction  in  the  meth- 
ods of  acquiring  a  language,  business  courses,  book-keeping,  etc. 

The  fourth  question — as  to  whether  those  who  have  not  taken  a 
full  theological  course  should  have  a  more  systematic  and  thorough 
training  in  Biblical  Studies,  Christian  Doctrine  and  Evidences  and 
Church  History — meets  w^ith  general  unanimity.  Some  put  special 
emphasis  upon  the  need  of  facilities  for  such  study  open  to  the  single 
women  missionaries.  One  or  two  raised  the  question  as  to  whether 
missionary  physicians  would  be  willing  to  delay  their  departure  to  the 
field  for  the  purpose  of  taking  such  a  course,  although  it  was  recog- 
nized that  the  course  would  be  most  desirable.  Some  expressed  regret 
that  more  emphasis  is  not  placed  upon  these  courses  in  our  existing 
theological  seminaries,  while  others  mention  special  endeavors  now 
being  made  to  emphasize  anew  these  lines  of  study  for  ministers  at 
home  as  well  as  for  missionaries. 

A  conviction  of  the  importance  of  unusual  emphasis  upon  these 
courses  in  the  preparation  of  all  missionary  candidates  is  clearly  indi- 
cated in  the  answers  received.  In  fact,  the  position  is  made  clear  that 
no  candidate,  who  has  not  had  extended  instruction,  and  who  has  not 
pursued  thorough  courses  in  these  departments,  can  be  regarded  as 
equipped  for  the  foreign  service.  In  whatever  capacity  they  enter  the 
foreign  service,  whether  as  physicians,  teachers,  printers,  business  man- 
agers, industrial  workers  or  preachers,  they  stand,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people  of  the  countries  to  whom  they  go,  as  "teachers  of  Christianity." 
From  this  they  cannot  escape ;  and,  if  they  are  worthy  the  service  to 
which  they  have  been  sent,  they  ought  not  to  escape.     In  order  to  fulfill 


24  COMMITTEE    I.— REPORT. 

this  role  with  credit  to  the  cause  they  serve  an  adequate  training  in  the 
fundamentals  of  the  religion  they  represent  and  perforce  nmst  teach  is 
imperatively  essential. 

The  subject  of  the  study  of  the  vernacular  to  be  used  in  the  field 
by  the  candidate  before  going  out  called  forth  a  large  number  of  replies, 
almost  w^holly  in  the  negative.  The  consensus  of  opinion  was  that  the 
languages  used  in  the  mission  field  can  best  be  studied  by  the  candi- 
dates on  the  field,  after  having  received  instruction  in  the  general  work 
affecting  the  principles  and  science  of  phonetics  and  linguistic  require- 
ments in  general.  A  few  declared  that  their  experiences  had  not  yet 
been  sufficiently  extended  to  enable  them  to  answer  the  question  intelli- 
gently. One  secretary,  while  expressing  his  conviction  that  no  attempt 
should  be  made  to  study  in  this  country  the  language  of  the  field,  is 
convinced  that  every  missionary  should  be  acquainted  with  at  least  one 
modern  language  in  addition  to  his  own. 

The  suggestion  is  made  in  general  that  Spanish  might  profitably 
be  studied  here  by  those  going  to  Latin  countries,  and  that  an  Arabic 
or  Sanscrit  foundation  might  be  of  service  to  one  contemplating  work 
in  Turkey  or  India.  One  who  recently  visited  the  Oriental  Seminary 
in  Berlin  and  the  Colonial  Institute  in  Hamburg,  where  eastern  lan- 
guages are  taught  with  scientific  skill  and  accuracy,  states  that  he  is 
persuaded  that,  were  such  scientific  facilities  for  the  study  of  the  lan- 
guages used  in  mission  fields  available  for  missionary  candidates,  it 
would  be  wise  to  employ  them.  He  is  convinced  that  the  science  of 
the  study  of  the  languages  can  best  be  taught  in  the  home  field. 

Many  of  the  secretaries  replying  to  this  question  have  themselves 
served  as  missionaries,  and  these  all  express  the  conviction  that  the 
practical  study  of  the  vernacular  of  all  mission  fields  can  best  be  pur- 
sued after  the  field  is  reached.  This,  however,  approaches  another 
question  considered  later  in  this  report  and  which  is  already  in  process 
of  solution  in  some  language  centers  in  mission  countries — namely,  the 
maintenance  of  interdenominational,  scientific  language  schools  to 
which  new  missionaries  shall  be  sent,  and  in  which  the  vernacular  of 
that  region  shall  be  taught  with  phonetical  and  scientific  precision.  If 
the  development  of  such  schools  can  be  accomplished,  all  will  probably 
agree  that  this  will  be  the  best  solution  of  the  vernacular  study  ques- 
tion. This  will  insure  scientific  accuracy  in  the  country  where  the 
candidate  can  train  his  tongue  and  his  ear  while  he  is  "studying  the 
country,  the  people  and  the  work  in  all  phases  and  departments. 

In  order  to  get  at  the  points  under  consideration  more  practically 
and  to  secure  the  judgment  of  the  leading  secretaries  of  the  missionary 
societies  of  this  country  as  to  the  points  in  which  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation  can  best  serve  these  societies,  the  question  was 
asked  as  to  whether  they  would  favor  an  endeavor  on  the  part  of  the 
Board  to  have  introduced  into  the  leading  colleges  and  seminaries  in  this 
country  various  branches  which  are  recorded  earlier  in  this  report  and 
which  need  not  be  repeated. 

The  twelve  topics  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made  are, 
with  few  exceptions,  accepted  by  our  correspondents.  The  most  of 
them  express  their  approval  of  these  topics  without  comment,  although 
one  would  eliminate  the  Philosophy  of  Religion,  Comparative 
Religions  and  the  History  and  Content  of  the  Great  Non-Christian 
Religions.  One,  in  sending  his  reply,  says  that  larger  emphasis  upon 
each  of  these  subjects  under  consideration  is  urgently  needed  in  all 
our  schools  of  advanced  learning.  Another,  in  giving  hearty  assent 
to  the  list,  states  that  if  he  were  to  pick  out  any  among  the  irnportant 


COMMITTHi:    1.— REPORT.  25 

topics  for  special  study  it  would  be  the  History  of  Pedagogy,  History 
and  Content  of  tlie  Great  Non-Christian  Religions,  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Modern  Missions, Tropical  Conditions  and  Medicine,  with  special 
emphasis  upon  the  Bible.  Another  correspondent,  while  approving  of 
the_  studies  as  suggested,  finds  difficulty  in  the  practical  method  by 
which  they  can  be  brought  about.  But  as  the  practical  side  is  not  a 
part  of  the  inquiry,  that  can  be  passed  over  in  this  report.  Another,  in 
replying,  says : 

"Most  emphatically  would  it  help  our  work  if  the  topics  suggested  could 
be  encouraged  and  carried  out  in  influencing  American  and  Canadian  colleges 
and  theological  seminaries  to  establish  and  develop  complete  courses  of  study  in 
all  of  the  twelve  subjects  mentioned." 

Another,  and  the  last  from  which  we  quote,  says : 

"It  would  be  of  great  advantage  to  have  the  list  of  subjects  named  taught 
m  our  various  colleges  where  candidates  prepare  for  the  foreign  field." 

The  answers  make  it  clear  that,  in  the  minds  of  the  leading  secre- 
taries of  the  principal  missionary  societies  of  this  country,  there  is  a 
conscious  lack  of  proper  training  in  these  twelve  topics  at  least. 

There  is  no  need  of  giving  extended  space  to  the  replies  which 
came  as  to  whether  it  would  be  helpful  for  secretaries  of  the  societies 
to  know  wdiere  these  topics  can  best  be  pursued.  There  was  only  one 
reply,  and  that  was  in  the  expression  of  a  desire  for  such  information. 
This  is  desired  on  the  part  of  the  secretaries,  not  only  for  the  secre- 
taries themselves,  but  for  their  candidates,  and  to  help'them  in  writing 
their  candidates  of  places  where  they  can  best  complete  their  prepara- 
tion. The  same  information  is  desired  for  the  use  of  missionaries  upon 
furlough.  The  conclusion  of  the  inquiry  is  this :  when  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Studies  has  investigated  facilities  ofifered  in  the  different 
preparatory  institutions  for  training  missionary  candidates,  the  Boards 
themselves  will  wish  to  receive  the  information  obtained  by  the  Board 
of  Studies. 

The  last  question  asked  in  the  first  set  of  inquiries  is  as  to  whether 
the  secretaries  would  favor  the  publication  from  time  to  time  of  a 
selected  and  carefully  chosen  list  of  the  best  and  most  recent  books  and 
articles  upon  those  dififerent  topics  named  on  the  second  page  of  this 
report.  The  replies  to  this  question  are  as  unanimous  and  emphatic 
as  to  those  of  the  question  preceding.     One  secretary  said  : 

"We  have  been  greatly  handicapped  by  not  having  a  selected  list  of  books 
on  the  subjects  referred  to.  I  hope  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  will  supply 
somethmg  more  specific  than  a  general  catalogue  of  the  books  on  these  subjects. 
If  the  recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  is  to  be  of  real  value 
It  must  be  discriminating  and  must  give  priority  to  the  books  which  have  chief 
value  for  the  purposes  indicated." 

Another : 

•  j-"^*  would  be  of  decided  advantage  to  us  to  have  such  a  list  of  books  as  is 
indicated  under  this  head.  I  feel  certain,  also,  that  we  could  make  it  of  special 
profit  to  our  missionaries."" 

Another  secretary  of  a  large  Board,  in  expressing  his  hearty  ap- 
proval of  such  a  list,  makes  added  suggestion  that 

"The  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  could  do  a  most  helpful  piece  of  work 
along  the  line  of  planning  out  the  curricula  for  the  preparation  of  the  various 
kinds  of  missionary  service  and  also  study  books  covering  this  curricula." 


26  COMMITTEE    I.— REPORT. 

Another  secretary  writes : 

"The  preparation  of  the  Bibliography  suggested  is  one  of  the  most  vital 
services  that  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  can  render  to  the  cause." 

Another : 

"For  years  we  have  felt  the  need  of  such  lists,  not  only  for  use  with  new 
candidates  but  with  our  workers  home  on  furlough." 

Also: 

"It  would  be  of  great  help  to  receive  such  carefully  considered  recommenda- 
tions and  books  especially  on  such  topics  as  the  Great  Religions  of  the  World. 
History  of  Missionary  Countries,  Education,  Pedagogy,  etc..  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Missions,  and  such  other  missionary  subjects  as  would  be  of  interest 
to  the  missionary  boards  and  societies." 

Perhaps  the  answers  to  this  question  are  the  most  enthusiastic  and 
unanimous  of  any  received,  making  it  evident  that  the  secretaries  of  all 
the  Boards  with  whom  we  corresponded  are  now  conscious  of  their 
need  of  the  help  that  the  Board  of  Missionary  Studies  can  render  along 
this  line. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  clear  understanding  as  to  what  the  various 
missionary  boards  of  North  America  are  doing  in  the  way  of  preparing 
candidates  for  their  special  service  or  of  supervising  them  during  the 
period  of  preparation,  a  supplemental  set  of  questions  was  sent  out 
bearing  upon  this  point.    The  first  one  of  these  questions  was : 

"Has  your  Board  a  definite  policy  with  reference  to  the  supervision  of  the 
training  of  those  who  are  prospective  candidates  for  appointment?" 

This  was  followed  by  a  question  as  to  whether  financial  aid  was 
given  the  candidates  in  selecting  and  pursuing  their  courses  of  study, 
and  as  to  whether  they  were  financially  assisted  in  so  doing. 

The  answers  to  this  question  have  been  very  general  and  complete. 
In  order  to  make  the  situation  perfectly  clear,  it  seems  necessary  to 
quote  from  several  of  these  replies.  Those  from  whom  quotations 
are  made  are  secretaries  of  the  leading  missionary  societies  of  the  coun- 
try.    They  are  as  follows  : 

"Our  Board  has  no  definite  policy  with  reference  to  the  supervision  of  the 
training  of  those  who  are  prospective  candidates  for  appointment  unless  an 
absence  of  all  participation  in  such  supervision  constitutes  a  policy.  We  have  not 
in  the  past  regularly  and  systematically  assisted  prospective  candidates  in  select- 
ing and  pursuing  their  courses  of  study  or  in  aiding  them  financially.  The 
Secretaries  of  the  Board  and  others  have  personally  rendered  assistance  in  both 
directions ;  but  this  has  never  become  a  definite  policy  of  the  Board." 

"We  have  no  special  arrangements  for  the  training  of  missionary  candidates 
and  no  plan  for  aiding  them  in  their  course  of  preparation,  except  as  we  have  a 
fund  aiding  candidates  for  the  ministry  who  study  in  our  regular  seminaries." 

"Our  society  has  no  definite  policy  with  reference  to  the  supervision  of  the 
training  of  those  who  are  prospective  candidates  for  appointment.  Our  society 
gives  advice  to  candidates  when  they  ask  for  it,  but  it  does  not  systematically 
assist  those  who  are  expecting  to  go  to  the  field,  nor  does  it  aid  them  financially. 
The  work  of  training  is  left  to  the  colleges." 

"Our  Board  has  no  definite  policy  for  the  supervision  of  the  training  of  those 
who  are  prospective  candidates.  When  they  appeal  to  us  individually  for  help 
we  endeavor  to  advise  them  according  to  their  particular  need  in  their  future 
work.  Neither  do  we  aid  them  financially.  A  Board  of  Education  has  been 
established  by  our  church  to  give  aid  to  ordained  and  medical  men  preparing  for 
missionary  service." 

"Our  Board  has  no  definite  policy  with  reference  to  the  supervision  of  can- 
didates. We  seldom  volunteer  any  suggestions  as  to  studies  or  courses  to  be 
pursued,  and   never  except  as   individuals.     No  courses  of  special   studies   for 


COMMITTEE    I.— REPORT.  27 

different  countries  have  ever  been  considered  by  our  Board,  much  less  a  general 
course  of  preparation  for  service  under  the  Board.  It  has  been  our  time- 
honored  policy  to  accept  and  appoint  such  candidates  as  offer  themselves  for 
service  after  they  have  creditably  completed  a  course  of  study  in  a  recognized 
college,  theological  seminary  or  medical  school.  It  can  be  said  that  our  Board 
has  exerted  no  special  effort  in  directing  candidates  to  a  course  of  training  for 
their  life  work  as  missionaries.  They  have  been  left  to  themselves  to  select 
and  pursue  such  courses  of  study  as  they  chose.  Neither  has  any  financial  aid 
been  given." 

"Our  Board  chooses  its  applicants  from  theological  seminaries  and  training 
schools,  giving  them  no  aid  in  their  preparation  for  study  and  accepting  them 
with  such  training  as  they  receive." 

Another  Board  says : 

"We  leave  the  supervision  of  the  training  of  volunteers  who  expect  to  be 
ordained  to  the  authorities  of  the  seminary  where  they  are  taking  their  course. 
We  occasionally  endeavor  to  suggest  lines  of  missionary  reading  for  them  but 
do  not  go  beyond  that.  Practically  the  same  arrangement  applies  to  the  young 
women   who   are  being   trained   in   the  Deaconess'   schools." 

"It  has  not  been  the  policy  of  our  Board  to  take  any  supervision  of  the 
training  of  candidates,  and  we  invariably  decline  to  assist  them  while  pursuing 
preparatory  study." 

Another  Board  secretary  reports  : 

"We  have  a  missionary  training  school  for  the  purpose  of  training  men  and 
women  for  home  and  foreign  service  where  aid  is  given  in  selecting  and  pursuing 
their  courses  of  study  and  preparation  for  the  foreign  field,  and  where  a  great 
many  of  the  candidates  are  aided  by  scholarships." 

In  addition  to  those  from  whom  quotations  have  already  been 
made,  twelve  secretaries  report  "no  policy"  with  reference  to  aiding 
students  and  prospective  candidates  in  their  preparation  for  service, 
except  as  a  few  of  them  say : 

"We  render  advice  when  such  is  asked  for  by  a  prospective  candidate." 

There  is  only  one  conclusion  to  which  this  investigation  inevitably 
leads,  and  that  is,  that  hitherto  it  has  been,  and  is  at  the  present  time, 
the  general  policy  of  the  missionary  societies  of  North  America  to  begin 
their  official  and  even  advisory  relations  to  prospective  candidates  only 
after  they  have  been  appointed,  which,  in  most  instances,  occurs  but 
a  brief  time  before  their  sailing  for  the  field ;  that  these  candidates 
secure  whatever  advice  they  are  able  to  secure  anywhere  and  every- 
where, and  pursue  such  courses  of  study  as  seem  wise  to  them  with- 
out any  special  relations  to  the  Board  under  which  they  expect  to  go 
out,  or  to  the  work  which  they  expect  to  do  after  reaching  the  foreign 
field.  Some  of  the  correspondents  seem  to  realize  the  weakness  of 
their  position  with  reference  to  the  training  of  candidates,  and  ex- 
pressed their  hope  and  expectation  that  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation  will  render  them  substantial  help  in  the  future  in  securing 
better  equipped  men  and  women  for  the  missionary  service. 

The  second  question  related  to  financial  help  rendered  to  candi- 
dates while  completing  their  theological  course,  or  making  special 
preparation  in  pedagagy,  medicine  or  other  studies,  or  while  engaged 
in  language  study.  The  general  and  practically  universal  reply  was  in 
the  negative,  except  what  is  already  indicated  in  this  report.  The  mis- 
sionary candidates  in  preparation  in  theological  schools  are  eligible  to 
the  same  aid  as  those  studying  for  the  Christian  ministry  at  home. 
There  has  been  and  is  no  provision  reported  for  aiding  candidates  for 
studying  the  vernacular  of  the  country  to  which  they  go  before  going 


28  COMMITTEE    I.— REPORT. 

out.  In  the  case  of  one  Board  at  least,  where  a  course  in  tropical  medi- 
cine is  required  of  all  medical  missionaries  going  to  tropical  countries, 
the  Board  assumes  the  expense  of  that  course,  which  is  taken  in  Eng- 
land and  covers  a  period  of  three  months.  The  Board  pays  the  tuition 
and  the  living  expenses  of  the  candidate  while  pursuing  the  course. 
Another  Board  continues  the  missionary  salary  during  the  time  occu- 
pied in  the  Tropical  Medicine  Course. 

Also  in  the  case  of  missionary  physicians  going  to  the  Turkish 
Empire  one  Board  meets  the  expense  of  such  appointees  who,  if  not 
familiar  with  the  French  language,  are  compelled  by  the  law  of  Turkey 
to  stop  in  France  and  perfect  themselves  in  the  French  medical  lan- 
guage, so  as  to  pass  the  license  examinations  at  Constantinople.  The 
expense  for  this  delay  in  France  for  the  purpose  named,  as  also  the 
expense  for  the  examination  in  Constantinople,  is  defrayed  by  the 
Board.  A  leading  Board  has  adopted  the  policy  of  having  its  mission- 
aries in  Portuguese  Africa  stop  in  Lisbon  for  several  months  for  the 
study  of  Portuguese  before  reaching  their  country.  This  Board  meets 
all  expenses  of  such  delay  and  study. 

The  last  question  asked  was  not,  perhaps,  so  relevant  as  the  pre- 
ceding; it  was  as  to  whether  the  Board  replying  would  be  willing 
at  important  centers  where  missionaries  of  different  societies  are  using 
a  common  language,  to  unite  with  other  missions  in  sustaining  a  prac- 
tical and  scientific  school  for  training  newly  appointed  missionaries  in 
the  vernacular.  There  was  almost  a  general  expression  of  approval 
of  such  a  plan  and  a  willingness  to  cooperate.  Reference  was  fre- 
quently made  to  the  plans  already  adopted  and  entered  upon  in  Japan, 
China  and  India.  One  Board  reports  ''summer  schools  for  the  study 
of  the  language,"  but  the  secretary  states  that  he  thinks  their  Board 
would  be  willing  to  abandon  the  special  summer  school  in  favor  of  a 
more  general  scientific  school  in  which  various  missions  united.  Others 
speak  of  their  realization  of  the  importance  of  the  organization  of 
such  schools  in  order  to  secure  for  the  new  missionaries  a  more  sys- 
tematic and  careful  study  and  a  more  practical  drill  in  the  language  they 
are  to  use  in  their  missionary  service.  Some  suggest  that,  in  addition 
to  the  study  of  the  language,  the  customs  and  manners  of  the  people, 
etc.,  be  added.  Others  speak  of  their  belief  that  the  advantages  of 
such  schools  should  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  missionaries  on  the 
field,  and  that  any  decision  by  the  Boards  in  favor  should  be  made 
after  the  missionaries  have  been  consulted. 

In  the  replies,  reservations  were  made  as  to  the  location  of  such  a 
school,  its  management,  etc. ;  but  the  replies  are  clear  that  there  exists 
a  consciousness,  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  leading  secretaries  of  the 
leading  missionary  societies,  that  better  facilities  need  to  be  offered  to 
the  new  missionary  on  the  field  in  acquiring  a  mastery  of  the  vernacular. 
There  is  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  many  able  missionaries  render 
only  a  partial  service  during  their  whole  life,  owing  to  their  weakness  in 
the  language,  and  in  most  cases  (if  not  all)  because  of  their  failure  to 
learn  the  vernacular  during  the  first  three  years  of  their  missionary  life. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  if  several  societies  unite  together  in  giving 
such  services  to  the  new  missionary  appointees  they  will  be  able  to 
secure  better  advantages  than  is  possible  for  any  individual  society  to 
do  alone — and  that,  too,  with  much  less  individual  expense.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  missionary  societies  of  North  America  are  ready  to 
consider  this  question  fairly  and  impartially. 

Your  Committee  does  not  understand  that  its  commission  included 
the  formulation  of  any  conclusions  or  the  presentation  of  recommenda- 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  29 

tions.  We  were  appointed  with  instructions  to  ascertain  a  certain 
number  of  facts  and  opinions  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  the  Prepara- 
tion of  Missionary  Candidates  and  the  service  which,  in  the  judgment 
of  officers  of  the  missionary  societies,  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prepa- 
ration may  best  render  the  Boards. 

These  facts  and  opinions,  as  secured  by  your  Committee,  are  here- 
with presented. 

THE   DISCUSSION 

Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson:  First  of  all,  let  me  express  my  deep  ap- 
preciation of  the  material  which  has  been  brought  together  so  splendidly 
by  the  Committee.  It  falls  to  me  to  discuss  this  report  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  Board  Secretary. 

The  Committee's  report  indicates  a  somewhat  chaotic  condition,  a 
somewhat  deplorable  absence  of  clear  requirements  on  the  part  of  the 
Missionary  Boards,  and  a  lack  of  uniformity  among  the  boards,  even 
where  requirements  are  definitely  reported.  I  think  I  ought  to  say 
in  explanation  of  this  situation,  but  without  intending  to  justify  its 
continuance,  that  three  reasons  may  be  discovered  for  the  existing 
situation.  First,  it  has  been  impossible  for  many  boards  to  depart- 
mentalize the  work  which  has  to  do  with  the  selection  and  the  training 
of  candidates.  We  do  well  at  this  point  to  recognize  what  ought  to  be 
recognized  in  all  discussions  of  Board  administration,  that  there  is  a 
very  marked  difference  between  the  larger  boards  and  the  smaller 
boards  in  the  matter  of  establishing  separate  departments  for  the  sev- 
eral divisions  of  work.  It  may  be  possible  for  a  large  board  to  create 
a  separate  department  and  commit  to  it  certain  lines  of  work,  where 
a  smaller  board,  owing  to  its  more  limited  work  and  its  more  limited 
resources,  cannot  create  such  separate  departments.  However,  in  but 
few  boards  do  we  find  a  separate  department  organized,  claiming  the 
time  and  attention  of  a  specially  designated  secretary  whose  task  it  is 
to  cultivate  the  interest  and  direct  the  training  of  those  who  are  pre- 
senting themselves  for  foreign  missionary  appointment.  And  because 
we  have  not  had  these  distinct  departments,  there  have  not  been  worked 
out  any  clear  rules  or  system  for  dealing  with  missionary  candidates. 

A  second  reason  for  the  chaotic  condition  referred  to  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  conditions  with  which  we  are  dealing  have  to  be  taken 
as  they  are.  We  are  dealing  not  with  a  theory,  but  with  facts.  It  might 
be  ideal  to  have  missionary  candidates  fulfilling  certain  requirements 
and  set  free  to  undertake  certain  courses  of  training,  but  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases  the  material  has  to  be  used  which  presents  itself  for 
missionary  purposes,  and  conditions  entirely  prevent  the  candidate 
taking  up  special  training.  It  is  to  be  recognized  that  while  we  are 
endeavoring  to  improve  the  machinery  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  we 
cannot  afford  to  entirely  stop  missionary  operations  while  we  attempt 
to  build  up  a  new  machine.  The  activities  of  our  work  must  be  kept 
moving,  and  it  has  not  been  possible  to  do  much  in  the  direction  of 
working  out  suitable  theories  for  missionary  qualifications  when  time 
and  strength  were  preoccupied  with  the  claims  of  existing  work. 

But  a  third  reason  for  the  chaotic  condition  may  be  honestly  ad- 
mitted to  be  the  lack  on  the  part  of  board  secretaries  and  others  of  an 
adequate  application  of  thought  and  study  to  the  subject  before  us. 
We  do  not  know  what  the  requirements  should  be,  nor  how  to  attain 
to  the  true  requirements  for  missionary  service,  simply  because  we  have 
not  given  thought  and  study  to  this  question.    It  will  be  good  to  make 


30  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

this  honest  confession  on  behalf  of  Mission  Boards  and  Board  Secre- 
taries, because  we  do  not  have  to  admit  for  a  moment  that  we  are  facing 
an  insuperable  difficulty.  If  we  only  proceed  along  normal  and  natural 
lines,  we  can  arrive  at  the  discovery  of  standards  and  methods  relating 
to  missionary  training. 

In  studying  the  report  of  the  Committee  from  the  point  of  view  of 
a  Board  Secretary,  one  has  certain  definite  impressions  made  upon  his 
mind,  and  to  these  I  would  refer  in  order : 

I.  It  is  quite  clear  that  as  yet  no  adequate  solution  has  been  offered 
to  the  question,  Where  and  how  shall  the  missionary  candidate  get  his 
special  training  for  missionary  service?  Three  courses  suggest  them- 
selves: (a)  Should  we  change  existing  courses  in  the  regular  training 
schools  or  theological  seminaries?  I  have  in  mind  here  especially  the 
ordained  missionaries ;  these,  after  all,  constitute  the  backbone  of  the 
missionary  force,  and  we  do  well  to  give  them  our  first  thought.  Would 
it  be  wise  to  give  these  a  training  so  specialized  that  they  would  follow 
courses  altogether  separate  from  those  followed  by  the  candidate  for 
a  home  pastorate?  Or  should  we  even  cause  him  to  go  to  a  separate 
school  for  his  training?  I  think  as  a  secretary  I  would  be  loath  to  see 
this  done.  That  some  of  the  subjects  studied  by  a  man  who  is  pur- 
posing to  spend  his  life  in  America  might  well  be  omitted  by  the  pros- 
pective missionary,  may  easily  be  admitted.  But  the  differences 
between  the  courses  taken  by  the  man  who  goes  abroad  and  the  courses 
taken  by  the  man  who  stays  at  home  must  not  be  made  so  great  as  to 
have  these  two  men  lose  their  point  of  contact,  their  sense  of  fellow- 
ship in  the  same  ministry.  We  know  that  the  fellowships  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  in  which  men  have  been  equally  trained  for  the  home 
pastorate  and  for  the  foreign  field,  constitute  one  of  the  strongest 
bonds,  helping  forward  the  missionary  enterprise  and  securing  for  it 
an  adequate  support  of  sympathy,  prayer  and  financial  help  at  the  home 
base.  The  advantage  which  we  now  possess  at  this  point  must  be  safe- 
guarded. 

We  venture  to  suggest  that  it  might  be  well  to  inquire  wh^her  the 
criticisms  of  the  ordinary  theological  course  as  related  to  the  training 
of  the  ordained  foreign  missionary,  are  not  criticisms  which  reach 
much  further  than  we  think.  Might  it  not  be  that  the  seminaries  have 
been  characterized  as  somewhat  inadequate  in  their  training  of  the 
foreign  missionary,  not  because  a  special  and  peculiar  training  is  re- 
quired for  the  foreign  field,  but  because  the  theological  training  as  it 
now  exists  has  in  it  elements  that  are  not  at  all  adapted  for  an  aggres- 
sive, spiritual  ministry,  either  at  home  or  abroad  ? 

(b)  Another  method  that  may  be  followed  in  securing  special 
training  for  prospective  missionaries  is  to  add  special  courses  or  years 
of  study  after  a  regular  theological  course  has  been  completed.  To 
express  the  feelings  of  a  Board  Secretary,  we  do  well  to  recognize  the 
immense  pressure  that  is  laid  upon  the  boards  to  send  out  at  once  a 
young  candidate.  The  needs  of  the  field  are  overwhelming.  Death  and 
illness  are  constantly  making  ravages  upon  the  force  on  the  field.  The 
gaps  must  be  filled  and  advance  cannot  be  postponed.  There  is  every 
temptation  to  waive  a  year  of  special  training  and  send  out  the  mis- 
sionary at  once.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  missionary  candidate 
also,  the  lack  of  provision  for  a  special  year  of  study  and  the  desire  to 
get  married  and  settled  in  his  life  work,  make  him  impatient  to  post- 
pone his  sailing  for  a  year,  that  he  may  get  special  training. 

(c)  A  third  method  may  be  suggested.  It  is  that  during  the  sum- 
mer the  missionary  candidate  attend  special  schools  in  which  he  will 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  31 

receive  special  training  for  the  foreign  field.  Some  have  disapproved 
of  this  plan.  In  the  presence  of  our  great  ideals  for  a  thorough  training, 
such  provision  seems  to  be  wholly  unworthy.  Nevertheless,  it  im- 
presses me  as  one  method  that  might  be  put  into  operation  at  once,  and 
it  would  be  infinitely  better  than  nothing.  There  would  be  no  reason 
for  limiting  such  training  during  the  summer  to  the  last  summer  which 
the  missionary  candidate  has  in  this  country.  On  the  contrary,  he 
might  be  led  to  get  such  training  during  several  summers  previous  to 
his  sailing.  The  summer  vacations  of  our  students  are  quite  extended, 
affording  three  and  even  four  months  of  time.  In  such  institutions  as 
the  University  of  Chicago,  and  state  institutions  generally,  summer 
quarters  are  now  being  planned  and  the  schools  are  largely  attended 
during  this  quarter  by  teachers  and  others  whose  life  work  claims  the 
bulk  of  the  year.  Training  during  the  summer  may  thus  be  made  a 
strong  factor  in  increasing  the  efficiency  of  those  who  are  in  service  or 
those  who  are  still  pursuing  regular  studies  in  other  schools  during  the 
bulk  of  the  year. 

2.  A  second  impression  gathered  from  studying  tliis  report  has  to 
do  with  the  content  of  our  ideals  in  the  matter  of  special  missionary 
training.  What  sort  of  training  is  it  that  we  wish  prospective  mission- 
aries to  have?  The  Committee  has  consulted  the  Boards  and  Board 
Secretaries,  and  has  brought  in  many  suggestions.  Would  it  not  be 
w^ell  to  ask  this  question  of  the  missionaries  who  are  in  service?  I  have 
heard  of  a  business  school  that  proposed  to  get  up  commercial  courses 
on  a  thoroughly  scientific  basis.  Instead  of  theorizing  about  what  sort 
of  training  might  be  necessary  for  a  good  business  man,  circulars  were 
sent  out  to  a  number  of  successful  business  men,  and  they  were  asked 
to  indicate  what  factors  in  their  training,  when  they  were  in  school, 
had  been  found  to  be  most  serviceable  in  the  actual  exprience  of  busi- 
ness life.  The  returns  were  said  to  be  very  suggestive  of  how  much 
useless  material  was  being  carried  in  the  ordinary  commercial  course 
and  what  inadequate  emphasis  was  being  laid  on  some  extremely  vital 
points.  In  a  similar  fashion,  therefore,  I  would  suggest  that  success- 
ful missionaries  be  asked  to  indicate  the  special  lines  of  training  which 
they  have  found  to  be  most  serviceable  in  the  actual  experiences  of 
missionary  work. 

As  one  reads  the  list  of  subjects  which  it  is  proposed  to  study, 
there  comes  a  feeling  so  strong  that  it  almost  amounts  to  a  revulsion 
of  feeling  against  things  which  minister  solely  to  technical  knowledge. 
All  the  subjects  mentioned  in  the  Committee's  report  ought  undoubt- 
edly to  be  made  a  part  of  the  curriculum  to  be  followed  by  a  prospective 
missionary.  But  as  a  Secretary,  I  must  confess  to  a  deeper  need.  It  is 
something  which  will  help  to  develop  personality  and  leadership ;  some- 
thing which  will  foster  devotion  and  zeal.  Or  must  we  say  that  these 
qualities  are  wholly  uncommunicable?  Is  there  nothing  in  the  way  of 
training  or  environment,  which  may  be  part  of  the  special  course  of  a 
missionary,  which  will  lay  emphasis  on  these  qualities,  which,  after  all, 
mean  so  much  on  the  foreign  field  ?  I  would  earnestly  put  in  a  plea  for 
a  consideration  of  this  question.  The  development  indicated  may  not 
be  attained  by  the  study  of  text  books,  but  yet  it  might  be  attained  by 
reading  or  lectures  or  fellowships  which  would  lift  before  the  mis- 
sionary candidate  the  vision  of  the  vital  place  which  the  impact  of  per- 
sonality has  in  a  successful  missionary  career. 

(3)  The  report  discusses  also  the  question  of  securing  aid  for  the 
student  who  wishes  to  pursue  the  special  studies.  There  is,  indeed, 
some  difficulty  at  this  point,  but  the  difficulty  is  not  great.     It  may  be 


32  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

that  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  is  not  the  agency  to  render  this  aid. 
It  may  be  that  this  would  be  the  duty  of  a  Board  of  Education,  but 
from  some  source  the  necessary  aid  could  be  secured.  No  investment 
of  money  would  be  more  effective  than  this.  I  need  not  dwell  on  this 
point,  because  I  think  it  can  be  safely  assumed  that  if  we  shall  lift  a 
clear  vision  of  the  kind  of  training  that  is  necessary  and  provide  the  in- 
stitutions where  such  a  training  can  be  secured,  it  will  be  a  small  matter 
to  provide  for  the  support  of  missionary  candidates  during  the  year 
or  two  given  to  special  missionary  training. 

(4)  In  conclusion,  I  would  lay  emphasis  on  a  few  things  which  it 
would  seem  could  be  done  and  could  be  done  at  once:  (a)  There  is 
urgent  need  for  the  list  of  books  referred  to  in  the  Committee's  report, 
such  a  list  as  can  be  recommended  to  students  who  wish  to  read  up  or 
study  along  special  lines.  I  would  only  lay  great  emphasis  on  the  word 
of  caution  uttered  by  some  Secretary  who  urged  that  this  list  "must  be 
discriminating  and  must  give  priority  to  the  books  which  have  chief 
value  for  the  purpose  indicated."  Too  extended  a  list  without  adequate 
explanations  of  the  special  values  of  certain  books  becomes  simply  a 
ground  of  discouragement. 

(b)  We  are  also  in  need  of  a  list  of  schools  where  special  mission- 
ary training  is  now  available,  and  the  courses  that  can  be  secured  in  the 
same.  It  is  conceivable  that  each  board  secretary  could  write  for  him- 
self and  get  on  the  track  of  places  where  such  training  can  be  secured ; 
but  this  is  a  service  that  a  central  committee  could  render  for  all.  This 
information  would  need  to  be  tabulated  first  of  all  geographically,  so 
that  instant  reference  could  be  made  to  institutions  within  certain 
geographical  areas,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of  recommending  an 
institution  that  is  quite  remote  from  the  place  of  residence  of  the  mis- 
sionary candidate.  Then  the  list  should  be  made  out  topically,  accord- 
ing to  the  kind  of  special  training  which  is  being  sought. 

(c)  Finally,  there  should  be  brought  together  full  and  definite 
information  as  to  the  methods  actually  used  by  boards  that  have  taken 
the  lead  in  these  matters.  There  is  nothing  so  persuasive  as  a  clear 
picture  of  what  is  actually  being  done  by  some  established  missionary 
agency.  At  this  point  the  "big  boards"  may  well  assume  a  sense  of  real 
responsibility.  Their  size,  their  administrative  resources,  their  finan- 
cial strength,  permit  them  to  organize  candidate  departments.  If  they 
will  organize  a  "Big  Brother"  movement  in  this  matter,  they  may  blaze 
the  way  for  smaller  boards,  who  will  do  what  they  can,  although  they 
may  not  be  able  to  carry  so  specialized  a  form  of  work  in  following  up 
candidates  and  in  securing  for  them  special  training  for  missionary 
service. 

Rev.  T.  E.  Edgerton  Shore:  One  of  the  most  important  ques- 
tions in  connection  with  the  work  from  the  standpoint  of  the  mission 
boards,  I  think,  is  that  of  the  productive  value  of  the  missionary. 
Having  in  mind  the  immensity  of  our  task,  the  field  to  be  cultivated,  the 
mass  to  be  evangelized  and,  together  with  that,  our  limited  resources, 
how  can  we  make  the  most  of  what  we  have?  How  can  we  accom- 
plish the  task  with  the  resources  that  are  available  ?  I  tihnk  that  is  pre- 
eminently a  question  which,  theoretically  at  least,  occupies  the  adminis- 
trative mind  of  the  mission  board. 

I  have  a  friend,  a  Japanese  preacher,  who  spent  some  years  in  post- 
graduate studies  in  Canada,  who  said  to  me  before  returning  to  Japan : 
"I  wish  that  I  could  devote  sixty  years  to  preparation,  and  then  five 
years  to  putting  that  prepartion  into  its  eflfect  in  Japan."  I  do  not  think 
that  that  represented  merely  the  love  of  an  academic  life  or  of  intel- 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  33 

lectual  indulgence.  I  believe  it  represents  to  some  extent  the  secret  of 
Japanese  efficiency  in  other  matters,  which  I  think  is  due  mainly  to 
comprehensive  study,  to  assimulative  capacity,  and  especially  to  the 
power  of  making  a  direct  application  of  the  knowledge  they  have  ac- 
quired. The  trained  marksman  will  save  a  lot  of  ammunition  and  tim.e 
and  avoid  the  overlooking  of  strategic  opportunities. 

Now  apply  this  to  the  missionary  and  missionary  training.  The 
productive  value  of  a  missionary  from  the  standpoint  of  a  board  is 
both  qualitative  and  quantitative.  I  shall  not  refer  at  length  to  the 
qualitative  side  of  it.  Probably  that  is  in  the  minds  especially  of  those 
who  are  identified  with  the  educational  side  of  the  work  of  this  Board. 
But  from  the  quantitative  side  we  have  again  and  again  had  reference 
made  to  the  retarding  effect  of  irreparable  blunders  that  are  made  by 
ill-trained,  immature  missionaries  on  the  field.  The  element  of  time 
comes  in  there. 

But  there  is  the  positive  side.  It  refers  to  the  speed  that  is  gained  by 
efficiency.  We  have  in  West  China  a  language  school  for  our  mission- 
aries, and  our  Board  requires  each  new  missionary  to  spend  the  whole 
of  the  first  two  years  in  language  study,  the  first  year  in  the  school,  and 
the  second  year  at  one  of  the  stations ;  but  during  the  second  year  a  new 
missionary  is  not  permitted  to  speak  on  any  occasions  excepting  when 
the  audience  is  composed  entirely  of  missionaries. 

When  I  visited  Japan  I  thought  that  the  efficiency  of  the  missionary 
force  as  a  whole  became  very  much  limited  by  the  comparative  inability 
of  missionaries  to  use  the  Japanese  language,  and  I  took  the  position 
with  our  mission  council  that  unless  the  council  in  its  powers  of  appoint- 
ment of  missionaries  on  the  field  would  reserve  the  first  two  years  for 
language  study  I  would  not  recommend  the  sending  out  of  any  more 
missionaries.  They  have  adopted  that  policy.  I  believe  that  the  re- 
serving of  those  years  on  the  field  for  language  study  gains  in  point  of 
efficiency  many,  many  times  the  number  of  those  years  in  their  after 
service. 

From  the  standpoint  of  economy  and  the  expenditure  of  funds  it  is 
worth  the  while  of  the  Board  to  contribute  to  greater  efficiency.  And 
if  this  be  true  in  the  illustrations  which  I  have  given  of  language  study 
on  the  field,  I  believe  that  it  is  quite  as  true  of  those  branches  of  prepa- 
ration which  can  receive  more  thorough,  masterly  attention  in  the  home- 
land before  the  missionaries  go  to  the  field. 

Another  aspect  of  the  quantitative  value  of  the  missionary  has 
reference  to  the  missionary  as  a  leader — the  multiplied  power  of  the 
missionary.  The  thought  in  my  mind  to-day  is  :  How  can  one  chase  a 
thousand  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight  ?  How  can  one  missionary 
become  a  hundred  ?  How  can  we  produce  a  leadership  which  will  have 
multiplying  power  in  the  church  on  the  field?  In  this  sense  I  believe 
that  every  missionary  should  be  a  normal  teacher.  (I  am  not  now  re- 
ferring to  the  pedagogic  side  of  educational  work.)  Every  missionary 
on  the  field  should  consider  that  his  great  task  and  opportunity  is  not  so 
much  how  to  open  an  increasing  number  of  outstations  and  to  devote 
more  time  to  preaching  to  an  increasing  number  of  new  congregations 
as  it  is  how  to  raise  up  and  train  an  increasing  number  of  native  pastors ; 
the  great  task  of  the  educational  missionary  is  to  raise  up  and  train  a 
sufficient  number  of  Christian  educational  leaders  on  the  field  ;  and  the 
great  work  of  the  medical  missionary  is  not  merely  to  attend  to  the 
duties  of  his  hospital,  but  to  raise  up  a  Christian  medical  profession. 
And  I  believe  that  it  is  in  the  solution  of  the  question  respecting  this 


34  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

multiplying  power  of  missionaries  on  the  field  that  the  mission  boards 
can  find  the  key  to  the  speedy  evangelization  of  the  world. 

I  was  delighted,  with  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  to  discover 
the  almost  unanimous  response,  practically  unanimous  response,  from 
the  board  secretaries  with  regard  to  the  need  of  increased  efficiency  and 
of  preparation,  and  the  prospective  work  of  this  Board.  Am  I  right  in 
this  conjecture,  that  up  to  the  present  time  it  is  mainly  the  board  secre- 
taries officially  representing  the  boards  that  are  conscious  of  this  need? 
So  far  as  the  Board  that  I  represent  is  concerned,  I  fear  that  is  the 
case,  and  as  far  as  the  secretary  is  concerned  it  is  true  only  in  a  very 
limited  degree.  But  I  consider  it  to  be  the  duty  of  myself  as  a  secre- 
tary and  a  member  of  this  Board  to  co-operate  with  this  Board  of 
Preparation,  which  has  before  it  the  task  of  educating  the  Mission 
Boards  along  this  line  if  we  are  to  receive  that  sympathetic  co-operation 
which  is  necessary  if  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Preparation  be  made 
effective. 

I  respond  heartily  to  the  statement  which  the  secretary  of  the 
Board  has  made  with  regard  to  the  attitude  of  the  students.  Only 
within  the  past  week  I  had  a  conference  with  four  students,  four  mis- 
sionary candidates,  who  would  be  ready  so  far  as  the  ordinary  prepara- 
tion is  concerned  to  go  to  the  foreign  field  in  the  fall  of  191 3.  For  the 
first  time  in  the  past  seven  years  our  Board  is  in  the  position  where  we 
are  for  economic  reasons  obliged  to  adjust  ourselves  to  circumstances 
for  a  year,  with  the  possibility  that  we  may  not  be  able  to  send  out 
many,  if  any  missionaries  in  191 3  to  the  foreign  field.  It  has  seemed  to 
me  a  Providential  opportunity  to  introduce  this  idea  of  an  extra  year's 
training,  and  I  suggested  this  to  these  four  men.  Two  out  of  the  four 
at  once  responded  and  said :  "We  will  be  glad  to  give  that  extra  year 
to  enriching  our  equipment  for  the  field,"  and  they  are  planning  to  take 
a  year  in  the  Hartford  School  of  Missions. 

I  think  our  Board  will  need  some  education  on  that  line.  This  is  a 
vital  point,  I  desire  to  express  my  appreciation  of  a  visit  which  we  had 
from  President  Mackenzie  in  Toronto  during  the  past  year,  when  he 
addressed  a  representative  gathering  of  educational  men  and  missionary 
leaders  in  Toronto.  The  result  of  that  conference  was  the  appointment 
of  a  joint  committee  representing  the  denominational  colleges  of  Canada 
and  the  mission  boards  of  Canada,  and  that  committee  has  had  several 
conferences,  showing  clearly  that  they  would  all  gladly  co-operate  in  de- 
veloping this  movement  in  Canada,  even  to  the  establishment  of  an  in- 
terdenominational mission  school  in  Toronto.  But  the  point  was  at  last 
reached  when,  with  the  greatest  unanimity  as  to  the  desirability  of  the 
project,  the  responsibility  of  working  out  the  scheme  was  thrown  back 
upon  the  Mission  Boards,  the  only  stress  upon  them  being  the  financing 
of  the  scheme.  Until  we  have  brought  our  Mission  Boards  into  an  in- 
telligent, sympathetic  co-operation  we  cannot  get  the  financial  support 
which  is  required. 

President  H.  C.  King:  I  have  read  this  report  of  Dr.  Barton 
with  great  appreciation  and  sympathy,  because  it  seems  to  me  to 
touch  upon  so  many  of  the  weakest  points  as  they  impressed  me  in 
my  own  year  in  observing  missions  in  India  and  China  and  Japan. 

It  is  very  obvious,  I  think,  that  as  soon  as  you  look  at  the  question 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  educator,  the  great  demand  is  for 
time.  That  is  the  real  problem.  Time  is  the  great  desideratum.  It  is 
no  doubt  desirable  that  the  missionary  candidate  should  have  all  these 
subjects.  The  question  is  how  he  is  going  to  get  them  in.  It  is  evident 
that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  do  everything.     We  may  as  well  face 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  35 

that  to  start  with.  The  preparation  cannot  cover  the  sixty  years  that 
have  been  referred  to.  You  can  only  start  a  man,  at  best,  and  that 
start,  it  seems  to  me,  involves  three  things :  First,  that  it  is  most  im- 
portant that  he  should  have  points  of  view,  that  he  should  get  the  right 
points  of  view  in  these  different  subjects.  In  the  second  place,  that  he 
should  have  knowledge  of  the  sources  and  so  be  able  to  go  on.  And, 
in  the  third  place,  that  the  study  that  he  has  taken  should  give  him  a 
spur  for  that  further  development  of  the  subject.  If  you  can  insure 
those  three  things  you  have  done  a  good  deal  toward  meeting  the  whole 
demand.  It  is  evident  that  the  subjects  laid  out  are  sufficient  alone  to 
take  the  entire  theological  course.  They  do  call  for  a  large  amount 
of  time. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  the  missionary  needs  all  the  ordinary  funda- 
mentals as  well.  You  cannot  in  his  case  subtract  the  fundamentals  of 
the  theological  course.  He  needs  all  that  the  ordinary  minister  has, 
and  you  want  him  to  have  all  these  other  things  besides.  And  yet  it  is 
perhaps  worth  our  remembering — as  bearing  upon  the  question  as  to 
whether  the  missionary  schools  should  be  separated  from  the  semi- 
naries— that  the  whole  trend  of  theological  study  in  its  greater  em- 
phasis on  the  historical  and  on  the  educational  sides  is  directly  in  the 
line  of  what  would  be  better  for  the  missionary,  too.  All  the  ministers 
need  increasingly  this  kind  of  training.  Those  of  us  who  are  really 
facing  the  theological  problem  to-day — the  problem  of  theological  edu- 
cation— see  that  not  less  but  more  have  we  got  to  get  the  point  of  view 
of  comparative  religion,  of  the  historical  method,  and  be  able  to  apply 
educational  methods  as  well  in  the  ministry.  So  that  the  things  that 
are  asked  for  in  this  report  would  be  desirable  for  the  ordinary  minister 
as  well  as  for  the  missionar}-. 

Some  suggestions  may  be  given,  perhaps,  as  to  how,  in  addition 
to  what  I  have  said,  this  demand  for  time  might  be  met.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  evident  that  we  need  to  go  back  a  good  ways  to  get  a  mis- 
sionary ready.  It  is  very  desirable  that  he  should  do  something  in  the 
way  of  election  in  college  on  these  lines.  Certainly  tlie  pedagogic  work 
and  the  philosophical  work — the  sociological,  too,  except  on  the  speci- 
fically religious  side — should  have  been  elected  in  college.  That  ought 
not  all  to  be  left  for  his  seminary  years. 

Then  I  think  we  have  not  realized  that  on  the  whole  we  have  been 
going  backward  in  theological  education  as  to  the  time  demanded,  as 
compared  with  a  few  years  ago.  In  the  last  few  years  there  has  come 
in  the  fashion  of  telescoping  courses,  which  has  made  it  possible  for 
a  man  to  cover  the  first  year  of  the  seminary  course  in  his  last  year  in 
college;  so  that  it  has  been  true  in  recent  years  that  many  students 
have  gone  into  the  ministry  with  a  year's  less  preparation  than  the 
fully  trained  men  twenty  years  ago  had  to  have.  In  view  of  the  severe 
demand  on  the  ministry  to-day,  such  a  shortening  of  the  course  seems 
to  me  deplorable. 

I  am  sure  that  is  one  of  the  places  where  we  can  get  another  year. 
There  should  be  no  telescoping  of  courses.  There  should  be  a  full 
college  course  required,  and  three  years  after  that.  And  when  you 
compare  the  ministry  with  other  professions  you  will  remember  that 
other  professions  have  been  increasing  their  requirements — the  best  of 
them  now  generally  requiring  four  years  of  professional  study;  and 
the  need  of  further  preparation  on  the  part  of  the  minister  is  quite  as 
great  as  the  need  of  further  preparation  in  these  other  professions.  I 
should  like  myself  to  see  a  four  years'  professional  course  for  the  min- 
istry.   Then  something  could  be  done.     But  at  any  rate  we  ought  not 


36  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

to  fail  to  get  the  full  three  years  of  theological  training  after  a  full 
college  course. 

I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  bringing  skeletons  out  of  the  closet, 
but  I  have  a  feeling  that  there  is  another  place  where  time  might  be 
gained.  I  do  not  believe  that,  as  a  whole,  the  theological  students  begin 
to  work  as  hard  as  the  students  in  other  professions,  and  I  think  they 
might  be  asked  to  work  a  good  deal  harder.  I  am  afraid  there  is  a 
good  deal  of  waste  yet  under  the  lecture  method  in  many  of  the  theo- 
logical seminaries.  I  do  not  say  in  all  of  them.  The  lecture  method 
can  be  handled  so  that  there  will  not  be  a  waste,  but  it  can  be  handled 
so  that  there  is  an  enormous  waste — so  that  the  student  can  cover  only 
about  a  sixth  part  of  which  he  ought  to  cover  in  the  time  given  to  the 
subject.  Now  there  is  a  place  where  a  good  deal  more  could  be  done, 
I  think. 

Of  course,  it  may  be  that  if  we  bring  in  these  special  subjects  we 
shall  have  to  make  some  limitation  in  the  old  subjects.  I  think  in  many 
cases  that  ought  to  mean  probably  that  a  man  must  sacrifice  his  He- 
brew. We  have  the  testimony  of  one  of  the  first  Hebrew  scholars  in 
the  country  that  the  ordinary  student  does  not  get  enough  Hebrew, 
anyhow,  to  hurt  him.  He  had  better  sacrifice  it  even  from  that  point  of 
view.  But  whether  that  be  true  or  not,  the  situation  is  very  much  the 
same  as  it  is  in  the  college.  There  is  no  use  of  our  trying  to  react  to 
the  old  classical  standard.  We  cannot.  Since  the  college  course  was 
made  up  of  the  three  subjects,  Latin,  Greek  and  mathematics,  there 
have  a  lot  of  things  happened  that  make  up  the  modern  world  and  with 
which  the  modern  student  must  be  acquainted,  and  you  are  not  send- 
ing him  forth  as  an  educated  man  into  the  modern  world  without  some 
touch  with  those  subjects.  That  simply  means  that  the  time  given  to 
the  old  subjects  has  to  be  cut  down.  You  cannot  keep  your  cake  and 
eat  it  too. 

I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  make  some 
gain  here,  too,  through  some  union  missionary  summer  school  planned 
in  connection  with,  perhaps,  one  of  the  universities.  Something  pos- 
sibly could  be  done  there  toward  meeting  this  further  demand  for  time. 

There  is  encouragement  in  the  fact  that  there  is,  further,  a  grati- 
fying tendency  to  provide  the  subjects  desired  by  the  Committee  more 
and  more  in  theological  courses.  But  it  often  happens  that  they  have 
to  be  split  up  into  such  fragments  in  order  that  the  student  may  get 
any  taste  of  them  at  all,  because  of  the  limitations  of  time,  that  as  much 
has  not  been  accomplished  as  it  is  certainly  desirable  should  be. 

In  the  matter  of  preparation,  I  should  like  to  say  one  word  of  em- 
phasis, too,  upon  the  demand  for  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  I  have 
been  inclined  to  think  for  a  good  many  years,  frankly,  that  the  thing 
theological  seminaries  did  least  well  was  to  give  a  knowledge  of  the 
Bible.  I  am  sure  when  I  graduated  from  the  theological  seminary  the 
subject  that  I  should  have  been  least  willing  to  bear  examination  upon 
was  the  Bible.  I  should  have  been  able  to  stand  an  examination  better 
on  almost  anything  else ;  and  yet  I  knew  a  good  deal  more  Bible  than 
many  of  my  classmates,  I  am  sure.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  this  attempt 
to  approach  it  always  through  the  original  language  that  anything  like 
the  ground  has  been  covered  that  ought  to  be  covered.  I  think  there 
should  be  a  new  emphasis  upon  the  study  of  the  English  Bible,  of  mas- 
tering the  contents,  of  really  getting  a  broad  and  yet  accurate  survey 
of  the  whole  field ;  and  we  ought  to  remember  that  that  is  not  less  but 
more  demanded  if  you  wish  to  emphasize  the  modern  point  of  view, 
or  the  historical  point  of  view,  or  the  evolution  point  of  view.    If  you 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  37 

want  to  emphasize  those,  they  call,  not  less  but  more  for  a  knowledge 
of  the  entire  Bible ;  and  I  do  not  think  that  any  of  our  seminaries  are 
doing  there  what  they  ought  to  do — my  own  included — though  I  hope 
we  are  making  some  gain. 

It  is  worth  remembering,  too,  that  this  whole  problem  of  time, 
which  is,  it  seems  to  me,  one  of  the  most  difficult  in  connection  with 
this  problem  of  missionary  preparation,  is  helped  by  this  other  sugges- 
tion by  the  Committee  of  a  list  of  books  on  the  subjects  named ;  for 
that  would  itself  give  the  opportunity  to  carry  forward  intelligently  the 
lines  of  study  that  have  just  been  begun  in  the  theological  seminaries, 
so  that  this  properly  belongs  just  at  this  point  in  the  report.  This  care- 
fully annotated  bibliography  is  one  of  the  most  important  things  that 
the  student  can  have  if  he  has  really  gotten  an  intelligent  start,  for  it 
gives  him  the  sources  upon  which  he  must  work — and  that  would  be 
something,  I  am  sure,  to  help  out  the  preparation.  He  cannot  do  it  all 
beforehand ;  but  if  he  has  been  started  on  the  right  lines,  that  itself  will 
be  a  great  help.  If  the  seminary  really  started  the  student  with  knowl- 
edge of  the  several  important  points  of  view,  and  a  spur  to  further 
study,  he  will  go  a  long  way  toward  bringing  these  things  up  later. 
But  he  does  need  the  help  of  a  bibliography. 

And  this  bibliography  I  would  not  extend  merely  along  specifically 
missionary  lines,  but  I  think  it  ought  to  cover  the  fields  of  comparative 
religion,  philosophy  of  religion,  and  so  on.  That  would  be  a  great  help, 
it  should  be  remembered,  for  all  the  ministry.  Take  such  a  work,  for 
example,  as  that  now  coming  out,  Hastings'  "Encyclopedia  of  Religion 
and  Ethics,"  and  one  can  see  that  the  point  of  view  represented  is  pre- 
cisely that  which  you  wish  the  missionary  to  get.  But  that  work  was 
projected  because  it  was  believed  that  that  was  the  point  of  view  that 
every  minister  and  that  every  intelligent  student  of  religion  needed  to 
get.  So  a  careful  bibliography  of  the  history  and  philosophy  of  religion 
would  be  of  great  help,  not  only  to  the  missionary  candidates,  but  to 
all  missionaries  and  to  all  the  ministry. 

The  bibliography  might  well  be  extended,  I  think,  to  cover  also 
recommended  books  for  translation.  One  of  the  things  that  troubled 
me  a  good  deal  in  my  journey  around  the  world  was  to  find  that  so 
few  books  that  seemed  to  me  significant  were  being  translated.  There 
was  too  much  material  that  it  did  not  seem  to  be  important  to  have 
translated  into  any  language,  but  not  enough  books  of  really  first  rate 
importance  were  being  made  available ;  and  if  that  need  could  be  kept 
in  mind  also  in  the  recommendation  of  a  bibliography,  I  think  the  mis- 
sionaries would  be  grateful  as  well  as  those  that  they  were  trying  to 
serve.    And,  of  course,  such  a  list  must  be  steadily  renewed. 

I  have  been  particularly  glad  of  the  report  made  by  President  Mac- 
kenzie this  morning,  indicating  that  a  new  emphasis  was  to  be  placed 
on  the  missionary's  learning  the  language  of  the  people  to  whom  he 
goes,  because  it  became  very  clear  to  me  that  that  emphasis  had  been 
unduly  relaxed  and  that  many  missionaries  were  handicapping  them- 
selves for  their  future  work  because  they  evidently  had  not  gotten  the 
mastery  of  the  language.  The  demand  for  immediate  service  is  so 
great  and  it  is  so  much  easier  than  it  used  to  be  to  get  on  somehow 
without  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the  vernacular,  through  other 
workers  in  the  mission,  that  there  is  less  pressure  upon  new  mission- 
aries to  get  the  language  thoroughly  from  the  start. 

The  need,  too,  of  the  most  radical  conscientiousness  on  the  part 
of  the  missionary  was  impressed  upon  me  tremendously.  I  do  not 
know  that  anything  impressed  me  more  than  the  growing  conviction 


38  COMMITTEE    I.-DISCUSSTON. 

that  if  anybody  on  earth  needed  to  be  radically  conscientious  it  was 
the  missionary,  especially  in  the  non-episcopal  forms  of  mission  gov- 
ernment, where  he  is  not  much  supervised,  and  where  he  determines 
his  own  work  so  largely  that  unless  he  is  a  man  of  the  most  stubborn 
conscientiousness  he  is  very  likely  not  to  be  doing  what  he  ought  to  be 
doing,  and  not  to  hold  himself  up  to  an  efficient  standard  of  work  and 
growth ;  and  perhaps  the  very  suggestion  of  lines  of  growth  that  he  is 
to  make  might  help  him  at  this  point.  Radical  conscientiousness,  un- 
usual initiative,  and  determination  to  grow,  seemed  to  me  to  be  espe- 
cially required  for  missionary  workers.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  mis- 
sionaries generally  failed  reasonably  to  measure  up  to  such  a  standard, 
but  I  do  mean  to  say  that  those  qualities  seemed  to  me  to  need  peculiar 
emphasis. 

I  should  hope,  too,  that  there  might  be,  as  a  result  of  this  better 
preparation  on  the  part  of  the  missionary,  a  hopeful  reaction  on  the 
better  training  of  the  native  workers.  I  do  not  know  that  there  is 
anything  we  can  do  through  this  Board  especially  to  help  them,  and  I 
hope  the  situation  is  growing  better,  but  I  came  back  from  my  survey 
feeling  that  the  weakest  point  of  all  in  the  missionary  work  as  a  whole 
was  the  training  of  the  native  workers. 

It  may  reasonably  be  expected,  also,  that  this  better  preparation 
on  the  study  side,  this  better  understanding  of  the  psychology  and 
philosophy  of  religion  and  the  facts  concerning  the  religions  with 
which  they  have  especially  to  do,  might  have  a  very  beneficial  effect 
on  the  missionary  himself  in  bringing  him  into  a  spirit  of  deeper  sym- 
pathy and  respect  toward  those  among  whom  he  is  to  labor.  I  feel 
myself  so  absolutely  certain  that  the  thing  that  Jesus  is  requiring  of 
us  as  His  disciples  is  deep  reverence  for  the  personalities,  with  whom 
we  have  to  do,  that  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  we  shall  not  be  truly 
representing  the  spirit  of  Christ  to  those  among  whom  we  are  trying 
to  labor  abroad  if  there  is  not  a  very  deep  sympathy  and  sympathetic 
respect  for  the  best  that  they  have.  It  seems  to  me  very  interesting 
in  China  just  now  that  it  should  be  missionaries  mainly  that  are  keeping 
the  Chinese  classics  in  education.  I  think  that  is  very  interesting,  and 
it  is  right.  But  that  same  spirit  ought  surely  to  permeate  all  our  work, 
and  it  is  more  certain  to  do  so  if  the  preparation  that  is  called  for  in 
his  report  is  obtained. 

Prof.  Harlan  P.  Beach:  My  topic  reads  "From  the  View-point 
of  an  Educationalist  Studying  the  Work  of  the  Missionaries  on  the 
Mission  Field."  I  will  try  to  confine  myself,  therefore,  to  the  educa- 
tionalist's point  of  view  who  also  looks  upon  the  work  on  the  mission 
field  from  the  view-point  of  the  Boards  and  of  their  committees. 

I.  The  actual  status  of  missionary  education.  In  two  tours  around 
the  world  I  have  visited  all  the  great  mission  fields  except  Latin 
America,  and  have  met,  I  suppose,  some  two  thousand  missionaries. 
and  have  visited  and  examined  somewhat  thoroughly  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  institutions  of  higher  learning  in  these  fields.  I 
will  state  a  few  disappointing  facts  connected  with  these  investigations  : 

1.  I  may  say  that  T  was  disappointed  to  find  in  these  educational 
institutions  verv  few  men  and  women  who  have  been  technically,  or 
even  adequately,  prepared  for  the  work  which  they  are  doing.  The 
proportion  varied  in  different  countries,  but  I  think  that  in  no  country 
will  you  find  a  larger  proportion  of  educators  than  one-fourth,  and 
commonly  no  larger  percentage  than  ten  per  cent,  of  these  workers  who 
have  had  any  pedagogical  and  practical  preparation. 

2.  It  follows  that  these  educationalists  are  without  adequate  ideal? 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  39 

at  the  outset  and  for  a  good  part  of  their  educational  career.  To  make 
the  matter  worse,  most  of  the  countries  to  which  they  go  are  in  the 
first  stages  of  educational  development,  and,  consequently,  they  have 
no  ideals  which  are  ready  to  hand  for  the  missionaries'  use.  Japan  is, 
to  a  certain  extent,  an  exception  in  this  respect,  and  so  too  are  some  of 
the  fields  where  Great  Britain's  educational  policy  is  the  basis  of  the 
missionaries'  program. 

3.  Quite  commonly  I  found  in  these  countries  that  the  education 
which  was  being  imparted  was  altogether  too  Occidental  in  character. 
When  one  goes  to  a  land  without  any  educational  system  it  is  perfectly 
natural  to  establish  there  the  same  educational  scheme  which  the  mis- 
sionary has  been  used  to  at  home,  or  which  has  been  used  in  his  own 
education.  The  result  is  that  diametrically  opposed  civilizations  and 
needs  are  ministered  to  by  a  single  method.  The  races  thus  tend  to 
lose  their  original  character  instead  of  being  developed  along  lines 
which  are  wholly  desirable.  Moreover,  much  of  the  education  thus 
imparted  has  no  practical  value,  whereas,  in  view  of  the  tremendous 
demands  made  by  the  emergence  of  these  peoples  in  the  civilized  world, 
it  should  provide  them  with  every  practical  aid  possible. 

4.  Another  thing  which  was  not  so  noticeable,  but  which  was  fre- 
quently in  evidence,  is  the  lack  of  adaptation  of  the  methods  to  the  ends 
desired.     I  could  illustrate  this  easily,  but  simply  note  it  in  passing. 

II.  The  missionaries  regarded  from  the  non-educational  view- 
point. I  noted  other  defects  v^'hich  v/ere  common  to  missionaries  of 
every  grade,  though  it  seemed  to  me  that  they  affect  educationists 
more  than  they  do  medical  and  evangelistic  missionaries  except  in  one 
particular. 

1.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  educators  were  illy  equipped 
linguistically.  An  excuse  in  the  case  of  many  such  men  is  found  in 
the  fact  that,  in  a  large  majority  of  the  best  missionary  institutions  of 
higher  grade,  English  is  used,  and  is  a  medium  of  instruction.  Pro- 
fessors, and  presidents  even,  of  such  institutions  asked  the  question 
why  they  should  trouble  to  learn  the  language  of  their  people  when  the 
students  themselves  desire  to  use  English  almost  exclusively  in  order 
that  they  might  have  a  fuller  training  in  that  important  language. 
The  reply  seemed  to  be  self-evident — viz.,  that  when  men  and  women 
expect  to  spend  their  lives  as  educational  missionaries  it  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  that  they  should  fully  understand  their  students.  This 
cannot  be  done  satisfactorily  without  a  thorough-going  knowledge  of 
the  thought  of  these  people,  and  that,  in  turn,  cannot  be  learned  with- 
out an  accurate  knowledge  of  their  speech.  Other  reasons  for  being 
well  equipped  linguistically  are  self-evident. 

2.  Even  more  than  the  evangelistic  missionary  have  I  found  the 
educationist  on  the  mission  field  deficient  in  certain  items  of  essential 
knowledge.  One  of  these  is  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  Bible — the  Old 
Testament  as  well  as  the  New.  While  science  is  taught  in  these  schools, 
every  grade  of  missionary  is  there  to  teach,  or  illustrate,  the  Bible. 
It  is  preeminently  the  book  of  Christian  civilization,  and  among  races 
that  are  just  evolving  has  a  use  which  our  more  advanced  civilization 
does  not  so  keenly  feel. 

3.  Another  item  of  essential  knowledge  is  found  in  the  mastery 
of  the  history  of  one's  adopted  people.  While  most  of  the  older  mis- 
sionaries have  a  fair  knowledge  of  such  history,  it  is  very  common 
among  the  younger  teachers  to  care  nothing  about  such  stupid  records 
as  one  finds  in  China,  India,  and  even  Japan.  Notwithstanding,  the 
whole  background  of  our  work  is  historical.     It  is  necessary  to  know 


40  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

whence  a  people  has  come  and  what  the  resources  of  a  race  are.  if  one 
hopes  to  lead  them  to  a  higher  and  more  perfect  stage. 

4.  An  even  more  lamentable  failure  in  knowledge,  holding  true  of 
all  varieties  of  missionaries,  even  the  evangelistic,  is  an  inadequate 
acquaintance  with  the  religions  which  dominate  one's  adopted  country- 
men. Too  many  evangelistic  missionaries,  and  a  few  educators,  merely 
ridicule  existing  faiths,  though  they  do  not  now  talk  of  them  as  being 
of  the  devil.  The  great  objective  of  all  of  our  work  is  the  implanting 
of  Christianity,  and  this  is  impossible  while  existing  religions  are 
allowed  to  hold  their  present  sway.  Certain  elements  in  these  faiths 
are  helpful  in  building  up  the  Christian  religion,  as  foundations  or  sug- 
gestions at  least.  I  could  instance  many  cases  from  a  number  of  coun- 
tries which  would  prove  how  harmful  to  our  cause  a  misunderstanding 
of  religions  and  an  unfair  use  of  them  for  the  sake  of  building  up 
Christianity  is  to  that  very  process. 

III.  Missionary  by-products  of  our  educational  system.  Jesus 
bade  His  disciples  go  and  teach  all  nations,  and  the  dominant  function 
of  every  variety  of  missionary  is  that  of  teaching.  Every  phase  of 
missionary  effort  calls  for  ability  in  that  direction,  though  not  every 
educationalist  is  vitally  concerned  with  some  of  this  teaching. 

1.  Sunday  schools  stand,  perhaps,  foremost  in  this  list  of  by- 
products, since  far  more  teaching  of  religious  truth  is  done  there  than 
from  the  pulpit  or  in  the  secular  school.  In  only  a  small  proportion  of 
the  Sunday  schools  visited  did  there  seem  to  be  an  adequate  program 
for  religious  instruction.  Inasmuch  as  a  number  of  teachers  were 
needed,  untrained  native  Christians  had  to  be  used  for  the  purpose, 
and  in  many  cases  their  teaching  was  next  to  useless.  When  one  re- 
members the  high  state  of  efficiency  reached  by  our  own  Sunday  schools, 
one  longs  for  greater  attention  to  this  most  serious  lack. 

2.  If  I  may  use  the  word  liturgies  in  a  somewhat  adapted  sense, 
I  would  say  that  ignorance  of  the  possibilities  of  this  method  of  pro- 
moting truth  is  almost  universal  except  in  liturgical  churclies.  In 
America  practically  all  who  attend  churches  are  literate,  whereas  in 
mission  lands  a  goodly  proportion  of  the  old  people  cannot  read.  For 
such  persons,  in  order  that  the  service  may  be  shared  in  by  as  many 
as  possible,  a  liturgy  of  some  sort  is  highly  desirable.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  in  non-liturgical  churches  more  or  less  use  of  responsive  serv- 
ices and  simple  liturgies  is  made.  The  great  liturgies  of  the  Episcopal 
and  Lutheran  churches  are  not  known  by  many  missionaries,  and  even 
where  known  they  cannot  be  used  as  profitably  as  a  liturgy  prepared 
on  purpose  for  more  primitive  peoples.  It  is  an  item  of  missionary 
teaching  to  which  little  attention  has  been  given,  either  by  liturgical  or 
non-liturgical  missionaries.  Much  would  be  gained  if  the  Episcopal 
and  Lutheran  missionaries  would  forget  that  they  had  a  liturgy  adapted 
to  people  in  England  and  Germany  and  really  formulate  or  adopt  one 
for  the  peoples  to  whom  they  go. 

3.  Somewhat  different  demands  are  made  in  the  direction  of 
catechetics.  The  catecumenate  of  the  early  Church  is  found  in  most 
mission  fields  today  in  one  form  or  another.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  a 
good  many  catechisms  have  not  been  written  wisely  or  with  the  careful 
consideration  of  what  truth  is  most  essential  to  be  taught,  and  in  what 
order.  Here,  again,  there  is  great  need  for  our  modern  education  to 
make  changes  which  would  greatly  quicken  the  process  of  learning  the 
vital  truths  of  Christianity. 

4.  General  religious  instruction  is  another  by-product  of  the  edu- 
cational scheme,  and  yet  one  that  is  so  pervasive  that  it  covers  ever)'- 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  41 

thing  that  the  missionary  does,  ahiiost.  The  preacher  is  not  so  suc- 
cessful who  preaches  as  if  to  a  Western  audience.  His  sermon  must  be 
largely  didactic,  even  though  it  must  have  much  of  the  hortatory  and 
practical  in  it.  The  head  of  the  family  at  morning  and  evening  prayers 
must  be  a  teacher,  for  here  he  has  some  of  his  best  opportunities  for 
training  his  household  servants  and  other  friends  in  a  familiar  way. 
The  man  who  is  teaching  manual  training  and  other  industrial  work 
should  know  how  to  teach;  but,  unfortunately,  a  good  many  whom  I 
have  seen  have  not  been  prepared  to  make  this  part  of  their  work  as 
effective  as  it  might  be. 

_IV.  What  should  be  done  to  increase  educational  efficiency F  In 
closing,  I  wish  to  make  three  suggestions  before  adding  a  special  ap- 
pendix : 

1.  Every  educational  missionary  should  be  a  partial  master  at  least 
of  the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching.  Theory  is  essential  for  the 
sake  of  ideals,  but  if  either  of  these  items  must  be  dispensed  with  I 
should  prefer  the  theory  to  go  rather  than  the  actual  practice  obtainable 
either  in  some  good  teachers'  training  institution  or  in  actual  school 
work. 

2.  A  study  of  educational  ideals  as  related  to  one's  future  field 
should  also  be  insisted  upon.  Having  mastered  the  theory  of  Occi- 
dental education,  one  is  prepared  now  to  face  conditions  in  the  field. 
Government  systems  in  these  lines  are  often  imperfect,  and  the  leading 
educators  are  anxious  to  get  from  a  missionary  new  ideas.  There  is 
thus  an  opportunity  to  mould  the  educational  feature  of  many  nascent 
nations.  It  will  be  hard  to  forget  that  one  is  an  American,  but  it  must 
be  done  if  the  best  interests  of  China,  India  and  Africa  are  to  be 
subserved.  This  is  another  reason  why  the  missionary  should  know 
thoroughly  the  history  and  the  language  of  his  adopted  people. 

3.  More  important  than  either  of  these  items  in  the  matter  of  effi- 
ciency IS  It  that  we  send  out  only  such  educators  as  have  a  vision  of 
God.  If  you  look  at  the  biographies  of  educational  missionaries,  from 
Dr.  Duff  to  Stewart  of  Lovedale,  you  will  find  that  they  have  been  suc- 
cessful in  making  character  and  influencing  the  higher  life  of  nations 
just  in  proportion  as  God  has  been  written  large  upon  their  own  lives 
and  upon  their  educational  program.  It  should  be  understood  always 
that  missionary  education  cannot  be  merely  secular.  God  must  be  the 
warp  of  the  whole  educational  fabric.  This  is  the  great  gift  of  mis- 
sions to  any  nation,  and  to  allow  the  Father  of  all  men  to  be  eclipsed 
by  the  minutiae  of  mathematics,  geography,  history,  etc.,  is  to  fail  in  our 
fulfillment  of  the  great  commission. 

I  said  that  I  wished  to  add  a  word  by  way  of  appendix.  It  has 
to  do  with  the  Oxford  Summer  School,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made  by  a  previous  speaker.  Perhaps  I  am  the  only  member  of  this 
Board  who  has  had  the  privilege  of  being  at  the  initial  summer  school 
held  last  August  by  the  British  Board  of  Study.  I  wish  to  say  only  a 
few  words  concerning  it.  Confessedly  it  was  an  experimental  piece 
of  work.  It  was,  perhaps,  unfortunate  that  when  only  four  weeks 
could  be  given  to  the  training  of  missionary  candidates  it  should  have 
been  sub-divided  into  periods  of  a  fortnight  each,  so  that  many  of  the 
candidates  were  present  only  two  weeks.  Notwithstanding  this  ex- 
tremely serious  handicap,  I  wish  to  testify  to  the  great  value  of  that 
month  of  work.  The  young  men  and  women  gathered  there  got  a 
vision  of  what  was  before  them  and  a  suggestive  treatment  of  a  variety 
of  important  topics  which  will  make  an  impression  upon  their  future 
lives  and  doubtless  will  give  direction  to  their  studies  on  the  field 


42  COMMITTEE    I.-DISCUSSION. 

Should  our  own  Board  think  it  best  at  some  future  time  to  estabHsh  such 
a  school,  I  earnestly  hope  that  it  may  not  be  permitted  to  lapse  into  a 
fortnight's  study,  or  even  a  montli.  At  least  six  weeks  are  desirable, 
if  anything  satisfactory  is  to  be  accomplished. 

May  I  add  that  in  what  has  already  been  said  I  have  been  trymg 
to  fulfil  the  ungracious  task  assigned  me  ?  Do  not  assume  from  what 
has  been  said  that  educational  work  on  the  foreign  field  is  a  failure. 
It  is  remarkable  what  has  been  accomplished  through  this  form  of 
efifort,  and  my  only  excuse  for  dwelling  upon  the  defects  is  that  we  may 
realize  what  need  there  is  for  our  Board  to  remedy  weaknesses  which 
are  due,  not  to  individual  incompetency,  but  rather  to  a  lack  of  train- 
ing which  can  readily  be  remedied.  I  fully  believe  that  this  Board  can 
accomplish  as  much  through  furthering  the  better  preparation  of  mis- 
sionaries, both  for  the  educational  and  evangelistic  work,  as  any  one  of 
the  sub-committees  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  Continuation  Com- 
mittee. 

Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer  spoke  as  follows  on  "Specialization  in  the 
Preparation  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Candidate" : 

I.  The  Dangers  of  Specialising.  It  must  be  admitted  that  there  are 
some  dangers  in  specializing.  Specialization  may  make  a  man  narrow 
in  his  vision,  sympathy  or  abilities.  It  may  deflect  him  from  larger 
aims.     There  are  certain  practical  difficulties  connected  with  it. 

a.  It  may  prevent  a  free  interchange  of  workers  on  the  foreign 
field.  Pioneer  life  always  puts  a  premium  on  the  all-round  man,  the 
jack-of-all-trades.  In  many  places  missionary  work  is  yet  at  the 
pioneer  stage.  Stations  are  undermanned  and  workers  are  often  re- 
moved by  furlough  or  illness.  Under  these  circumstances  the  ideal 
man,  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  is  responsible  for  the  disposition 
of  forces,  is  the  utility  man  who  can  fill  any  gap  and  is  willing  to  under- 
take any  job.  Specialists  are  less  apt  to  be  such  men.  They  some- 
times lack  the  ability  and  enthusiasm  for  the  form  of  work  that  is  most 
needed. 

b.  Specialization  along  some  lines  may  weaken  the  evangelistic 
spirit.  A  man  may  lose  sight  of  the  spiritual  welfare  of  those  with 
whom  he  has  to  deal  in  his  absorption  in  their  intellectual  welfare. 

c.  Specialization  may  lead  a  man  to  trust  to  method  instead  of 
personality.  The  evangelist  is  thrown  back  upon  his  personality,  since 
it  is  obviously  his  chief  weapon.  The  physician  or  educationalist  has 
a  more  organized  method  and  may  trust  to  this  without  utilizing  his 
personality  as  he  should. 

d.  Specialization  may  mould  men  for  conditions  which  do  not 
exist  on  the  foreign  field.  The  result  may  be  that  when  men  do  not 
find  the  conditions  to  which  they  are  accustomed  they  will  either  become 
dissatisfied  or  else  try  to  force  the  conditions  to  meet  their  abilities. 

Stated  in  this  bald  way,  considerable  exception  might  be  taken  to 
any  of  these  points,  but  they  nevertheless  indicate  real  difficulties,  all 
of  which  have  actually  been  experienced  and  which  we  must  at  least 
keep  in  mind. 

As  far  as  medicine  is  concerned,  we  have  decided  to  take  the 
risk  of  these  dangers.  Inefficiency  in  medical  work  demonstrates  itself 
too  quickly  and  mercilessly.  We,  therefore,  permit  the  physician  to 
specialize,  and  while  we  encourage  him  to  do  evangelistic  work,  we 
know  enough  not  to  encourage  the  evangelist  to  try  to  run  a  hospital. 
We  endeavor  to  secure  missionary  physicians  with  evangelistic  spirit, 
personality  and  willingness  to  adapt  themselves  to  conditions,  but  we 
insist  upon  thorough  and  specialized  training. 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  43 

As  to  education,  there  is  much  more  hesitation  about  specializing, 
as  is  clearly  indicated  by  Dr.  Barton's  report.  It  is  generally  felt  that 
educational  science,  so-called,  is  at  a  much  more  empirical  stage  than 
medical  science.  The  word  pedagogy  arouses  much  suspicion.  It  is 
sometimes  regarded  as  a  device  of  the  anaemic  and  unimaginative  for 
concealing  their  lack  of  personality.  I  heard  a  Presbyterian  Board 
Secretary,  though  not  a  Secretary  of  a  foreign  board,  once  say  that 
pedagogy  and  psychology  were  the  two  golden  calves  which  were  lead- 
ing Israel  astray.  There  is  a  feeling  that  the  aims  of  the  secular  school 
are  not  identical  with  those  of  the  mission  school,  and  that  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  former  to  refrain  from  distinctively  religious  teaching  makes 
it  an  unsafe  model.  Consequently,  when  the  secular  school  comes 
ofifering  aid  it  is  feared  et  dona  ferentes.  This  feeling  varies  in  differ- 
ent quarters,  but  it  does  exist  and  is  partly  responsible  for  the  fact  that 
board  secretaries  have  been  less  keen  for  men  trained  in  education 
than  for  trained  physicians. 

2.  Dangers  of  Not  Specialising. — But  if  there  are  undeniable  dan- 
gers in  specializing,  there  are  equally  real  dangers  in  a  failure  to 
specialize. 

a.  A  waste  of  time.  There  are  many  things  in  educational  method 
which  a  man  might  learn  in  America  instead  of  discovering  for  him- 
self on  the  foreign  field  after  many  experiments.  Not  only  is  the  time 
of  missionaries  wasted  by  their  ignorance,  but  that  of  their  native  as- 
sistants, and,  most  of  all,  of  their  pupils.  For  instance,  a  missionary 
in  Egypt  told  me  that  by  a  simple  device  in  flexible  grading  that  had 
occurred  to  her,  she  was  enabling  girls  to  accomplish  in  six  months 
what  had  formerly  taken  eighteen.  I  have  no  doubt  that  an  immense 
amount  of  valuable  time  is  being  wasted  all  over  the  foreign  field  be- 
cause our  missionaries  are  ignorant  of  methods  which  they  might  easily 
learn  by  a  little  specializing.  The  time  saved  could  be  utilized  for  more 
distinctively  missionary  values. 

b.  Lack  of  efficiency.  It  would  seem  that  no  educationalists  can 
be  more  concerned  for  practical  efficiency  than  missionaries.  Certainly 
none  have  more  at  stake.  Their  aim  is  to  make  their  constituency 
eflfective  in  membership  and  leadership  of  the  native  church  and  of  the 
nation  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  number.  They  simply  can  not  afford 
to  have  the  word  missionary  as  applied  to  education  become  a  synonym 
for  second-class  efficiency. 

Moreover,  few  educationalists  have  such  difficulties  to  face.  We 
cannot  realize  in  this  country  what  it  means  to  have  to  teach  in  four 
vernaculars  in  a  single  school  and  include  four  foreign  languages  in  the 
curriculum  in  addition.  The  mental  and  moral  background  of  the 
pupils  is  in  general  far  inferior  to  that  which  we  meet  in  this  country. 
Teachers  in  Egypt  told  me  that  their  boys  were  ignorant  of  scientific 
facts  that  would  be  commonplace  to  any  American  child.  Missionaries 
lack  models  to  imitate  and  authorities  to  consult,  both  of  which  are  so 
largely  available  for  teachers  in  this  country.  They  are  often  obliged 
to  work  with  very  meager  equipment  and  with  ill-adjusted  text  books. 
It  would  seem  that  they  need  much  more  thorough  specialization  than 
teachers  in  this  country.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  some  of  them  are  quite 
innocent  of  effective  methods.  In  a  school  in  Egypt  I  saw  a  very  pecul- 
iar bench  and  inquired  about  it.  The  good  missionary  said  that  he  had 
copied  it  from  a  model  in  a  little  district  school  in  Pennsylvania  in 
which  he  taught  thirty  years  ago.  Which  things  are  a  parable.  I  fear 
that  the  good  missionary  had  borrowed  more  that  was  peculiar  to  his 
former  experience  in  Pennsylvania  than  ideas  of  bench  construction. 


44  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

Such  a  man  had  manifestly  an  altogether  inadequate  training  for  teach- 
ing, with  the  complex  and  aggravated  difficulties  of  the  foreign  field. 
A  further  reason  for  the  high  efficiency  of  educational  missions  is  the 
growing  competition  of  government  systems  in  non-Christian  countries. 
We  have  seen  this  in  India  and  Japan,  but  perhaps  in  China  we  flatter 
ourselves  that  we  are  in  no  immediate  danger.  One  thing  that  we  must 
remember  is  that  when  a  government  system  does  get  into  operation  it 
rolls  inland  like  a  tidal  wave,  faster  than  a  man  can  run,  and  therefore 
we  cannot  afford  to  linger  on  the  shore,  but  must  start  at  once  for  the 
hills  as  fast  as  we  can.  If  we  neglect  an  immediate  improvement  of 
our  work  we  shall  be  overwhelmed  by  a  competition  that  advances 
faster  than  we  possibly  can.  This  competition  will  come  not  only  from 
the  government,  but  also  from  religious  bodies  and  all  sorts  of  local 
societies. 

c.  The  third  danger  in  not  specializing  is  that  it  usually  means  an 
inability  to  train  native  teachers.  The  missionary  may  teach  by  knack 
or  by  sheer  force  of  personality,  but  without  a  clear  analysis  and  under- 
standing of  educational  methods  he  will  be  unable  to  communicate  these 
efficiently  to  others.  The  training  of  native  teachers  to  effectiveness  is 
one  of  the  greatest  educational  needs  at  present  on  the  foreign  field. 

d.  The  fourth  danger  is  the  inability  to  locate  difficulties  and  solve 
large  problems.  There  are  many  situations  in  mission  schools  to-day 
which  will  not  be  relieved  until  a  man  with  broad  educational  training 
comes  into  control.  There  are  numerous  difficulties  which  an  expert 
would  at  once  recognize  and  meet.  There  are  large  problems  which 
can  only  be  handled  by  men  who  see  the  whole  background  of  edu- 
cation. 

e.  Finally,  there  is  danger  of  a  narrow  conception  of  the  school. 
A  lack  of  training  by  no  means  guarantees  a  broad  viewpoint.  The 
missionary  altogether  without  educational  specialization  may  simply 
copy  in  detail  some  single  model  which  he  has  seen  and  be  more  narrow 
in  his  methods  than  any  specialist. 

3.  How  Can  We  Avoid  Both  Sets  of  Dangers f 

a.  To  avoid  the  dangers  of  specializing,  our  candidate  secretaries 
must  demand  from  our  volunteers  a  willingness  to  render  help  wherever 
it  is  most  needed,  an  earnest  evangelistic  spirit,  a  forceful  personality 
and  some  versatility.  We  must  do  the  best  we  can  to  secure  these 
qualities. 

b.  On  the  other  hand,  we  must  demand  a  broad  educational  train- 
ing. There  is  a  certain  kind  of  specialization  which  narrows  because 
it  devotes  itself  exclusively  to  a  restricted  field ;  but  there  is  another 
kind  of  specialization,  which  broadens  because  it  seeks  to  discover  con- 
nections between  things  and  to  make  practical  applications  of  principles 
along  many  lines.  It  is  this  latter  kind  of  specialization  wliicli  is  at- 
tracting most  attention  in  educational  books  to-day.  I  believe  that 
those  who  have  not  kept  in  touch  with  recent  educational  thought  will 
be  surprised  to  find  how  broad  the  conception  of  the  school  has  become, 
and  in  what  a  missionary  spirit  it  is  endeavoring  to  reach  all  classes  of 
society  and  render  many  kinds  of  help  in  a  way  that  was  not  customary 
even  fifteen  years  ago.  We  should  urge  volunteers  to  take  two  or  three 
years  for  a  study  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  education  after  their 
college  course.  Practical  work  alone  in  American  surroundings  with- 
out theory  might  be  narrowing,  and  theory  alone  might  be  academic. 
It  is  quite  important  that  candidate  secretaries  should  understand  the 
scope  and  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity  of  training  which  volunteers 
have  had. 


COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION.  45 

They  should  acquire  broad  ideas  of  the  function  of  the  school,  of 
the  adaptation  of  the  curriculum  to  the  differing  social  and  economic 
conditions,  of  supervision  and  teacher  training.  They  should  get  into 
touch  with  educational  progress  and  be  is  a  position  to  move  on  with  it. 

c.  In  addition,  however,  to  anything  that  might  be  learned  from 
teachers'  colleges  or  normal  schools,  there  should  be  a  course  at  least 
of  reading  on  the  relation  of  education  to  missionary  work.  This  course 
should  present  the  specific  aims  of  missionary  education ;  the  place  of 
religious  training  in  schools  that  are  not  hampered  by  government  pub- 
lic school  restrictions ;  the  principal  needs  of  the  native  church,  with 
suggestions  as  to  how  these  can  best  be  provided  for.  This  is  greatly 
needed  as  a  supplement  to  what  is  being  offered  at  present. 

This  presupposes  that  boards  should  get  into  contact  with  candi- 
dates far  in  advance,  and  seek  to  guide  their  studies  and  practical  work. 
If  this  is  done,  both  sets  of  dangers  should  be  avoided,  and  the  tremen- 
dously important  benefits  of  specialization  realized. 

Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer:  There  is  just  one  point  that  I  think  we 
ought  to  keep  in  mind  so  that  we  will  not  be  dealing  too  much  with  the 
theory  of  this  matter,  and  that  is  the  very  great  difficulty  of  getting 
men  and  women  who  will  commit  themselves  to  going  to  the  mission 
field  a  long  time  in  advance  of  the  actual  period  at  which  they  go. 
Now  our  difficulty  is  chiefly  that.  There  are  men  and  women,  of 
course,  who  are  thinking  long  in  advance  of  going  and  desiring  to  go, 
but,  as  every  Board  here  will  testify,  our  great  difficulty  is  to  get  men 
and  women  who  will  definitely  commit  themselves  a  long  time  in  ad- 
vance._  I  spent  all  day  yesterday  in  one  of  our  theological  seminaries. 
The  difficulty  was  to  get  students  to  commit  themselves  to  going  to  the 
mission  field.  They  wanted  to  put  it  off  until  nearer  the  end  of  their 
seminary  course.  Now  a  great  deal  of  what  we  have  been  saying  has 
rested  on  the  assumption  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  gt\.  men  and 
women  long  in  advance  of  the  time  of  going  so  guaranteed  to  go  that 
the  Boards  or  the  home  church  would  be  justified  in  spending  time  and 
money  on  their  special  preparation.  We  have  a  problem  here  that  lies 
back  of  the  problems  that  we  are  dealing  with  in  this  conference. 

President  W.  W.  White:  One  word  in  discharge  of  an  obliga- 
tion laid  uponme  last  night  by  one  of  our  teachers,  who  had  just  come 
from  a  class  in  which  were  nine  prospective  missionaries.  The  ma- 
jority of  these  are  taking  a  full  year  in  our  school.  Only  one  of  the 
group  knows  the  field  to  which  he  is  going.  The  teacher  was  very 
much  wrought  up  over  this  state  of  affairs.  I  cite  this  in  illustration 
of  the  point  which  was  made  this  morning.  Is  it  not  possible  for  the 
Boards  in  rnore  instances  than  at  present  to  decide  earlier  on  the  coun- 
tries to  which  their  candidates  are  going  ?— perhaps  early  enough  to 
allow  the  students  at  least  a  year  in  which  to  adapt  their  training  in 
view  of  their  fields? 

Prof.  Edward  W.  Capen:  Just  by  way  of  showinp-  the  high 
grade  of  missionary  preparation  needed  in  certain  fields  let  me  read 
an  extract  from  a  paper  presented  a  year  ago  in  Japan  bv  a  leadin<^ 
missionary,  in  which  he  showed  how  the  intellectual  standard  in  the 
Kumi-ai  body  was  rising,  and  cited  the  topics  announced  to  the  candi- 
dates for  ordination  about  six  weeks  before  the  examination  as  to  their 
mtellectual  qualifications.     The  topics  suggested  were : 

The  historic  Christ  and  the  spiritual  Christ. 

The  meaning  of  the  Trinity. 

The  significance  of  salvation. 

The  Hegelian  philosophy  and  the  tendency  of  the  new  theology. 


4G  COMMITTEE    I.— DISCUSSION. 

Prof.  Eucken's  philosophy  and  present  Christian  thought. 

The  influence  of  the  Ritschlian  philosophy  on  the  modern  Christian  world. 

The  relation  between  Luther  and  Zwingli. 

The  relation  between  the  Puritans  and  the  Separatists. 

How  should  the  pastor  direct  the  work  of  the  Sunday  School  ? 

Methods  of  evangelistic  work  for  individuals. 

How  should  the  minister  arrange  his  daily  programme? 

History  and  mission  of  the  Kumi-ai  Church. 

Main  features  of  the  discussion  concerning  the  Old  Testament. 

The  rise  and  development  of  prophecy. 

What  is  the  wisdom  literature? 

The  Messianic  thought  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah  and  that  of  Jesus. 

The  Logia  of  Matthew  and  the  Ur-Mark. 

The  relation  between  Paul's  theology  and  the  Gospel  of  John. 

The  Book  of  Revelation  and  its  fundamental  teaching. 

Dr.  T.  H.  P,  Sailer:  It  seems  to  me  that,  to  meet  this  difficulty, 
it  might  not  be  impossible  to  formulate  some  general  suggestions  that 
could  be  sent  out  to  all  the  student  volunteers  in  colleges.  I  believe 
that  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  should  issue  a  pamphlet 
containing  suggestions  for  the  preparation  of  volunteers  while  in  col- 
lege. The  pamphlet  should  specify  various  courses  and  lines  of  read- 
ing that  would  be  most  useful  for  evangelistic,  medical  or  educational 
work.  It  should  help  volunteers  to  see  these  needs  in  the  large  and 
in  their  broad  relationships  to  the  entire  missionary  enterprise.  I 
think  that  our  Boards  should  spend  more  time  in  correspondence  with 
candidates,  and  should  take  the  attitude  that  even  where  men  are  not 
sure  of  going  to  the  field  they  should  correspond  with  their  Boards 
and  get  advice  as  to  the  direction  of  their  studies.  Men  sometimes 
volunteer  for  the  foreign  field  as  early  as  the  freshman  year  in  college, 
and,  because  they  do  not  apply  to  their  Boards  until  the  senior  year 
in  theology  or  medicine  they  are  left  for  seven  or  eight  years  without 
specific  advice  as  to  preparation  that  might  be  very  useful  to  them. 


REPORT  OF   COMMITTEE   II 

TO  STUDY  THE  PRESENT  FACILITIES  AFFORDED  MISSIONARY  CAN- 
DIDATES IN  INSTITUTIONS  AND  "MOVEMENTS"  AND  TO  DIS- 
COVER WHAT  FURTHER  FACILITIES  FOR  THE  TRAINING  OF 
MISSIONARY  CANDIDATES  ARE  NEEDED,  ESPECIALLY  IN  THE 
FOLLOWING  SUBJECTS  :  (1)  SCIENCE  AND  HISTORY  OF  MISSIONS ; 
(2)  RELIGIONS  OF  THE  WORLD;  (3)  SOCIOLOGY;  (4)  PEDAGOGY; 
(5)  SCIENCE  OF  LANGUAGE  AND  LANGUAGES  OF  DIFFERENT 
FIELDS  ;    (6)  ENGLISH   BIBLE 

Members  of  the  Committee: — Prof.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.  D.,  Chairman; 
Prof.  Ernest  D.  Burton,  D.  D.,  Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner,  Rev.  Wilbert  W.  White, 
Ph.  D.,  Miss  Helen  Calder,  Rev.  R.  P.  Mackay,  D.  D.,  Rev.  E.  Y.  Mullins,  D.  D., 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.  D. 

Presented  by  Prof.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  Chairman 

Prof.  Erdman:  In  presenting  the  Report  of  Committee  II.  the 
chairman  desires  to  point  out  that  there  were  two  points  suggested  for 
the  consideration  of  our  committee :  first,  what  are  the  present  facili- 
ties for  training  missionaries,  particular!}-  along  the  line  of  what  has 
been  termed  "special  missionary  preparation" ;  and,  secondly,  what 
further  facilities  should  be  afforded  ? 

In  answering  the  first  question — namely,  as  to  present  facilities — 
the  Committee  simply  reminds  you  that  very  exhaustive  investigation 
was  made  at  the  time  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference,  and  that  its  re- 
ports, which  are  accessible  to  us  all,  give  answer,  in  part,  to  this  first 
question,  that  is  to  say,  as  to  the  present  facilities  for  (i)  the  study 
of  the  science  and  history  of  missions  and  (2)  the  religions  of  the 
world.  The  Edinburgh  Conference  reports  tell  us  that  only  one-half 
of  our  theological  instutions  at  the  present  time  deal  with  those  ques- 
tions at  all,  and  that  those  deal  with  the  questions  only  to  this  extent: 
they  usually  devote  two  curriculum  hours  for  one  academic  year,  or 
two  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number  of  hours,  to  these  topics.  The  re- 
ports came  from  some  125  institutions. 

As  to  (3)  sociology,  we  find  that  practically  all  the  theological 
institutions  include  that  in  their  curriculum.  Of  course,  it  is  taught 
to  a  larger  extent  in  some  than  in  others ;  but  nearly  all  of  them  claim 
to  include  it  in  their  curricula. 

In  the  matter  of  (4)  pedagogy,  we  find  there  are  a  good  many 
places  where  opportunities  for  study  of  this  science  are  offered,  not 
so  much  in  our  theological  colleges  or  seminaries  as  in  other  institu- 
tions. For  instance,  the  Teachers  College  of  New  York,  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago,  Cornell  University,  Harvard  University  and  the 
University  of  Toronto — all  of  these  have  excellent  courses  in  pedagogy. 

As  to  (5)  the  science  of  language  and  language  study,  hardly  more 
than  a  beginning  has  been  made  in  any  of  our  institutions.     The  train- 

47 


48  COMMITTEE  II.— INTRODUCTION. 

ing  of  missionaries  in  the  languages  has  been  done  ahiiost  entirely  on 
the  mission  fields.  However,  some  instruction  has  been  more  recently 
offered  in  phonetics  and  in  certain  Oriental  languages. 

As  to  the  matter  of  the  instruction  in  (6)  English  Bible,  our  com- 
mittee hesitated  to  attempt  a  tabulation  of  methods  and  courses  of 
Bible  instruction.  It  seemed  a  very  difficult  thing  to  do.  All  our 
seminaries  teach  the  Bible,  and  all  our  courses  are  supposed  to  be  drawn 
from  the  Bible.  I  think  we  all  feel  that  the  students  do  not  know  as 
much  of  the  Bible  as  tliey  should,  when  they  graduate;  but,  neverthe- 
less, I  think  you  will  probably  agree  with  us  that  it  is  difficult  to  tabu- 
late the  facts  as  to  how  much  Bible  is  being  taught.  However,  we  do 
refer  to  the  matter  in  one  of  our  recommendations  at  the  close  of  this 
report. 

As  to  the  second  general  question:  "What  further  facilities  are 
needed?"  before  attempting  a  complete  answer  we  must  have  in  mind, 
first  of  all,  some  definite  ideal,  some  standard.  What  is  the  goal  toward 
which  we  are  to  move  ?  When  this  has  been  determined  we  can  decide 
what  facilities  should  be  offered;  so  that  it  may  be  attained. 

Secondly,  we  must  have  in  mind  the  fact  that  an  ever-increasing 
number  of  institutions  for  the  special  training  of  missionaries  are  being 
established  in  the  foreign  field.  Now,  if  we  are  to  train  our  mission- 
ary candidates  on  the  foreign  field  in  languages  and  all  these  lines  of 
special  missionary  preparation,  obviously  there  will  be  less  and  less 
need  in  our  own  country  of  multiplying  institutions  or  facilities  for 
such  training.  It  will  still  be  an  open  question  as  to  how  much  should 
be  done  in  this  country. 

Thirdly,  it  is  obvious  we  must  have  a  different  kind  of  missionary 
training  for  the  different  classes  of  missionaries,  whether  they  are  to 
be  pastors,  physicians,  teachers,  etc. 

Then,  fourthly,  the  question  should  emerge :  How  far  shall 
special  missionary  training  be  simultaneous  with  the  other  lines  of 
training?  That  is,  how  far  shall  a  theological  student,  for  example, 
be  expected,  during  his  course,  to  receive  "special  missionary  train- 
ing" ?  Shall  the  two  lines  of  training  be  simultaneous  ?  Or,  shall  his 
"special  training"  follow  his  "theological  course"  ? 

Tlien  the  fifth  question,  Whether  or  not  candidates  for  the  mis- 
sionary' field  who  are  taking  special  work  should  receive  financial  aid 
from  the  Boards  or  from  other  sources  ?     A  very  practical  question. 

Now  it  is  with  these  questions  in  mind  that  this  Committee  suggests 
a  number  of  propositions  for  your  consideration  and  approval. 
!•  The  first  one  may  occasion  no  discussion — that  "missionary  train- 
ing should  be  thorough  and  scientific."  We  probably  all  agree  upon 
that.  That  is  to  say,  a  young  man  cannot  omit  his  systematic  theology 
and  read  a  book  on  some  missionary  hero  and  think  that  he  has  made 
a  fair  substitution  and  get  into  the  mission  field  by  a  "short  cut."  A 
cheap  kind  of  "special  training"  is  not  to  be  substituted  for  serious  work. 
All  training,  whether  "special"  or  what  we  have  called  "fundamental," 
should  be  scientific  and  thorough.     We  all  agree  to  that  as  an  ideal. 

But  now,  secondly,  "there  should  be  established  in  all  the  fields 
where  a  considerable  number  of  missionaries  are  ministering  to  people 
of  one  language,  schools  for  the  training  of  missionaries.  When  pos- 
sible, they  should  be  developed  from  existing  language  schools.  They 
should  be  interdenominational  schools.  They  should  give  instruction 
in  the  language,  history  and  customs  of  the  country  in  which  they  are 
located ;  also,  in  the  Bible  and  science  and  history  of  missions.  The 
plans  for  these  schools  should  be  matured  and  published  as  soon  as 


COMMITTEE  II.— INTRODUCTION.  49 

possible,  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  enlargement  of  present 
theological  curricula  or  the  multiplication  of  missionary  training 
schools  at  home."  The  theological  curriculum,  at  the  present  time,  is 
pretty  well  filled.  It  might  be  altered  in  some  particulars.  Neverthe- 
less, we  can  hardly  expect  to  insert  a  year  of  "special  training"  in  our 
present  curriculum;  and  we  feel  that,  rather  than  overcrowding  that 
curriculum,  it  would  be  better  if  a  large  part  of  this  "special  training" 
should  be  done  on  the  migsion  fields,  in  special  missionary  training 
schools. 

_  Our  third  recommendation  is,  accordingly,  that  there  should  be 
given  at  least  one  year  of  special  training  to  all  our  candidates. 
Whether  that  is  done  at  one  time  or  another,  it  seemed  to  be  the  agree- 
ment of  the  committee  at  the  present  time — that  the  goal  be  aimed 
at  is  to  secure  at  least  the  amount  of  one  year  of  special  missionarv 
training. 

The  fourth  is,  that  "ministerial  and  medical  students  should  not 
be  expected  to  secure  adequate  missionary  preparation  during  a  regular 
course  of  professional  study,  but  should  plan  for  a  year  of  special 
post  graduate  training."  It  seemed  to  be  the  mind  of  the  committee 
that,  however  much  one  might  do  in  his  undergraduate  days  as  a 
theological  student  or  as  a  medical  student,  he  could  hardly  hope  to 
secure  during  his  professional  training  adequate  special  missionary 
training.  We  felt  that  in  some  manner  he  should  secure  another  year 
of  study,  either  in  the  same  institution  as  a  post  graduate  or  in  some 
other  institution. 

The  fifth  recommendation  was  along  the  line  of  summer  schools. 
Dr.  Watson  has  referred  to  it  and  Dr.  King  and  Dr.  Beach,  and  the 
committee  favored  what  has  been  suggested  by  all  of  these  speakers. 
We  felt  that  much  might  be  accomplished  through  summer  schools  if 
they  were  properly  conducted.  We,  therefore,  favored  the  establish- 
ment of  such  schools  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

The  sixth  matter  relates  to  language  study.  Your  committee  felt 
that  the  most  urgent  need,  in  the  whole  matter  of  missionary  prepara- 
tion, was  along  the  line  of  language  study,  and,  therefore,  we  call  your 
attention  to  the  report  of  the  commission  on  "Language  Study,"  of 
which  Dr.  Watson  was  chairman.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  that  report 
further  than  to  remind  you  of  the  startling  nature  of  the  facts  revealed 
and  of  the  obvious  need  of  more  scientific  methods  of  language  study. 

7.  "Opportunity  should  be  afiforded  to  all  classes  of  missionary 
candidates^ to  secure  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  Christian 
doctrines."  This  need  is  obvious,  but  present  facts  and  conditions  are 
far  from  ideal. 

8.  Medical  candidates  are  usually  in  need  of  further  facilities  for 
study,  as  outlined  in  this  recommendation. 

9.  The  last  point  has  been  dwelt  upon  sufficiently  and  very  help- 
fully by  President  King— namely,  that,  while  all  theological  students 
cannot  be  supplied  in  their  seminaries  with  special  missionary  training, 
all  seminary  students,  those  who  are  going  to  work  at  home  or  abroad, 
should  be  instructed  in  the  History  and  Science  of  Missions  and  in  the 
Religions  of  the  World,  in  order  to  develop  in  the  home  mini.^trv  an 
intelligent  interest  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 


50  COMMITTEE   II.— REPORT. 

THE  REPORT 

The  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  appointed 
"to  study  the  present  facilities  offered  missionary  candidates  in  institu- 
tions and  'Movements,'  and  to  discover  what  further  faciUties  for  the 
training  of  missionary  candidates  are  needed,  especially  in  the  following 
subjects:  (i)  Science  and  History  of  Missions;  (2)  Religions  of  the 
World;  (3)  Sociology;  (4)  Pedagogy;  (5)  Science  of  Language  and 
Language  of  Different  Fields;  (6)  English  Bible,"  would  report  as 
follows : 

/. — As  to  present  facilities. — The  exhaustive  investigation  con- 
ducted by  Commissions  Nos.  V.  and  VL  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference 
has  been  continued  by  the  secretaries  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment, who  have  graciously  placed  at  the  disposal  of  your  Committee 
the  replies  to  their  most  recent  questionaires.  An  examination  of 
this  material  suggests  that  very  little  has  been  undertaken,  by  Ameri- 
can theological  institutions,  along  the  line  of  "special  missionary 
training." 

As  to  (i)  Science  and  History  of  Missions,  and  (2)  Religions  of 
the  World : 

"Fifty  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  reported  that  the  study  of  Missions 
forms  an  integral  part  of  the  required  curriculum.  In  most  cases,  however,  the 
required  courses  are  brief  and  often  fragmentary.  *  *  *  'pj^g  time  usually 
allotted  for  these  courses  is  one  hour  per  week  during  one  year  of  the  three 
years'  course,  or  about  two  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  curriculum  hours.  Of 
these  institutions  eleven  have  elective  course?  in  addition,  and  nineteen  others 
give  all  their  missionary  instruction  in  the  form  of  elective  courses.  *  *  * 
Thirty  per  cent  of  the  institutions  reported  that  they  did  not  include  the  study 
of  missions  in  their  curricula,  either  in  the  form  of  required  or  elective  courses." 
[Edinburgh  Conference  Report,  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  78-83  and  173-177.  Also  Vol.  V., 
pp.  72-81  and  89-93.] 

These  branches  of  study  are  given  a  more  or  less  prominent  place 
in  the  curricula  of  most  Bible  and  Missionary  Training  Schools.  It 
will  be  remembered  also  that  such  "Movements"  as  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement,  the  Missionary  Education  Movement,  the  vari- 
ous Young  People's  and  Women's  Societies,  have  established  a  great 
number  of  voluntary  mission  study  classes  and  done  much  to  stimulate 
mission  study  and  to  guide  the  reading  of  missionary  literature. 

Instruction  in  (3)  Sociology  is  given  by  nearly  all  the  theological 
institutions  and  training  schools. 

Excellent  opportunities  for  the  study  of  (4)  Pedagogy  are  offered 
by  a  number  of  colleges  and  universities ;  and  courses  in  "religious 
pedagagy"  are  offered  in  connection  with  some  seminaries  and  train- 
ing schools. 

As  to  (5)  Science  of  Language  and  Language  of  Different  Fields, 
not  much  instruction  has  been  attempted  with  a  view  to  missionary 
service;  but  some  special  courses  are  being  offered  in  the  study  of 
Phonetics,  and  also  in  Chinese,  Arabic,  Turkish,  Syriac,  Armenian, 
Coptic  and  Ethiopic. 

In  all  theological  institutions  and  training  schools  the  study  of  (6) 
the  Bible  is  given  a  prominent  place ;  yet  some  of  these  institutions  fail 
to  give  such  instruction  as  secures  for  the  student  a  broad  and  com- 
prehensive knowledge  of  the  Bible  as  a  whole  and  of  the  contents  of  its 
several  books. 

//. — In  "discovering  zvhat  further  facilities  are  needed"  it  is 
necessary  to  consider  the  following  important  questions : 


COMMITTEE  II.— REPORT.  51 

(i)  What  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  ideal  or  necessary  standard  of 
missionary  training  and  equipment? 

(2)  Are  there  to  be  established  on  the  mission  fields  an  increasing 
number  of  institutions  for  the  special  training  of  missionaries;  and,  if 
so,  what  part  of  this  training  should  be  given  by  these  institutions  and 
what  part  should  be  given  at  home? 

(3)  How  shall  the  "special  missionary  training"  differ  for  the 
various  classes  of  workers — men,  women,  evangelists,  physicians, 
teachers,  laymen,  etc.  ? 

(4)  In  the  case  of  any  one  candidate  how  far  shall  the  three  kinds 
of  preparation  be  simultaneous — viz.,  general  professional  training, 
special  missionary  training,  and  preparation  for  a  particular  field? 

(5)  Is  financial  aid  to  be  given  by  missionary  societies  to  candi- 
dates who  desire  to  pursue  post-graduate  courses  for  special  mission- 
ary training? 

With  these  questions  in  mind  the  following  propositions  are  sub- 
mitted for  consideration  and  recommended  for  the  approval  of  the 
Board : 

1.  Special  missionary  training  should  be  thorough  and  scientific; 
it  should  not  take  the  place  of  other  necessary  studies  nor  serve  as  a 
"short  cut"  to  the  mission  field. 

2.  There  should  be  established,  in  all  fields  where  a  considerable 
number  of  missionaries  are  ministering  to  a  people  of  one  language, 
schools  for  the  special  training  of  missionaries.  When  possible,  they 
should  be  developed  from  existing  "language  schools."  They  should 
be  interdenominational  or  union  schools.  They  should  give  instruc- 
tion in  the  language,  history,  customs,  religions  of  the  countries  in 
which  they  are  located,  and  also  in  the  Bible  and  in  the  science  and 
history  of  missions.  The  plans  for  such  schools  should  be  matured 
and  published  as  soon  as  possible,  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  en- 
largement of  the  present  theological  curricula  or  the  multiplication  of 
missionary  training  schools  at  home. 

3.  Until  and  unless  such  schools  are  generally  established  in  mis- 
sion fields,  it  will  be  necessary  that  facilities  be  provided  in  this  coun- 
try by  which  all  classes  of  missionaries  may  obtain  at  least  one  year 
of  special  training.  This  can  be  most  effectively  and  economically  ac- 
complished if  a  limited  number  of  theological  seminaries  and  training 
schools  provide  special  courses  of  study. 

4.  Ministerial  and  medical  students  should  not  expect  to  secure 
an  adequate  missionary  preparation  during  their  regular  course  of 
professional  study,  but  should  plan  for  a  year  of  special  post-graduate 
training. 

5.  For  such  as  cannot  arrange  for  a  year  of  special  training,  or 
desire  to  specialize  in  certain  branches.  Summer  Schools,  open  to  all 
classes  of  missionary  candidates,  should  be  conducted  along  the  lines 
followed  this  year  (1912)  by  the  English  Board  of  Missionary  Studies. 

6.  As  to  the  Science  of  Language  and  the  Language  of  Different 
Fields,  the  instruction  of  all  missionaries  and  missionary  candidates, 
whether  given  at  home  or  on  the  foreign  field,  should  be  in  accordance 
with  modern  methods  and  in  connection  with  the  science  of  phonetics  ; 
and  the  instruction  given  to  candidates  at  home  should  be  carefully 
correlated  to  that  which  is  to  be  subsequently  given  to  them  on  the 
foreign  field. 

Your  Committee  would  call  special  attention  to  the  work  of  the 


52  COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION. 

Commission  on  "Language  Study"  appointed  by  the  Conference  of 
Foreign  Missions  Boards  of  North  America,  and  to  the  findings  and 
discussions  contained  in  the  reports  of  the  Conference  for  1908,  1909 
and  1910,  particularly  to  the  expressed  need  of  more  scientific  methods 
of  study,  and  to  the  approval  of  the  "Phonetic-Inductive"  method  of 
language  study  applied  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Cummings  to  the  Urdu 
and  Arabic,  and  applicable  for  other  languages.  Such  phonetic  study 
should  be  made  possible  for  candidates  who  are  at  present  receiving 
special  missionary  training  before  going  to  their  various  fields. 

7.  Opportunity  should  be  afforded  to  all  classes  of  missionary 
candidates  to  secure  an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  Bible  and  Christian 
doctrines.  It  is  affirmed  that  such  knowledge  is  frequently  lacking  in 
the  case  of  medical  candidates,  of  women,  and  of  lay  workers. 

8.  Medical  candidates  should  be  afforded  increased  facilities  for 
clinical  and  hospital  practice  and  for  instruction  in  tropical  diseases. 
These  are  denied  to  many,  because  of  the  limitations  of  the  medical 
schools  in  which  their  courses  are  taken,  or  because  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  competitors  for  hospital  appointments,  or  because  of  the  great 
expense  of  post-graduate  and  special  medical  study. 

9.  Since  missionary  training  schools  are  being  established  on  the 
mission  fields,  and  since  few  graduates  can  now  afford  the  money  for 
an  extra  year  of  study  at  home,  not  all  theological  institutions  can  be 
expected  to  provide  adequately  for  "special  missionary  training."  But 
they  should  possess  permanent  facilities  for  studying  the  "History  and 
Science  of  Missions,"  the  "Religions  of  the  World,"  and  similar 
branches  of  study  needed  in  common  by  missionaries  and  by  pastors  at 
home.  This  is  necessary,  not  merely  with  a  view  to  the  special  prepara- 
tion of  missionary  candidates,  but  in  order  to  develop  in  the  home  min- 
istry an  adequate  and  intelligent  interest  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
world. 


THE  DISCUSSION 

Prof.  Ernest  D.  Burton:^  The  following  paper  by  Prof.  Bur- 
ton on  "Is  it  possible  to  add  the  equivalent  of  a  year's  special  work  in 
Missions  to  the  present  theological  curriculum  ?"  was  read  : 

The  suggestion  that  the  standard  three-year  curriculum  of  theo- 
logical study  shall  be  lengthened  to  four  years  is  not  a  new  one,  nor 
is  it  without  strong  grounds  to  commend  it.  The  broadening  of  the 
field  of  knowledge  in  every  department  of  theological  thought,  the  en- 
largement of  the  scope  of  the  minister's  work  by  the  development  of 
the  science  of  sociology  and  the  organization  of  philanthropic  work, 
and  the  extension  of  the  scope  of  the  Church's  activity  through  the 
progress  of  its  missionary  enterprises  combine  to  put  a  strong  pressure 
upon  the  curriculum  and  demand  its  enlargement. 

That  these  reasons  are  sufficient  to  justify  a  certain  portion  of  the 
candidates  for  the  ministry  in  extending  their  course  to  four  or  even 
five  years,  there  can  be  no  question.  In  response  to  that  demand  a 
number  of  schools  in  the  country  have  offered  facilities  for  more  ex- 
tended study,  and  some  of  the  most  efficient  men  in  the  ministry  to-day 
are  those  who  in  schools  at  home  or  in  universities  abroad  have  added 
one  or  more  years  to  the  standard  three-year  course. 

The  present  proposition,  however,  concerns  itself  not  with  facili- 
ties for  further  study  of  which  the  exceptional  man  can  avail  himself, 

1  Prof.  Burton  could  not  attend  the  meeting  of  the    Board;  his  paper  was  read  by  the  Sec- 
retary. 


COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION.  63 

but  witli  the  lengthening  of  the  minimum  requirement  for  the  average 
man  taking  the  standard  post-collegiate  theological  course.  (I  am  not, 
of  course,  speaking  of  those  men  who  enter  the  ministry  either  without 
any  special  theological  training  or  who  take  the  theological  course 
without  any  previous  collegiate  course.)  It  suggests  that  to  the  pre- 
collegiate  education  and  the  four-year  course  for  the  Bachelor's  degree 
there  should  be  added  a  four  years'  theological  course  for  the  rank 
and  file  of  students  for  the  ministry. 

It  may  be  well  to  consider  how  the  matter  stands  with  other  pro- 
fessional schools. 

A  small  number  of  medical  schools  require  four  years  of  medical 
study  in  addition  to  a  Bachelor's  degree.  These  are  Johns  Hopkins, 
Cornell,  and,  with  some  abatement  of  requirements,  Harvard.  Western 
Reserve  and  perhaps  some  others,  require  three  years  of  college  work 
and  four  years  in  medicine.  Chicago,  Minnesota,  Michigan  and  some 
others  require  two  years  of  college  work  and  four  years  in  medicine, 
the  first  two  years  in  medicine  counting  also  toward  the  Bachelor's 
degree.  Columbia  has  until  lately  required  college  matriculation  for 
admission  to  the  medical  school,  but  is  now  raising  the  standard  with 
a  view  to  requiring  two  years  of  college  work  before  beginning  the 
four-year  medical  course.  The  great  body  of  medical  schools  require 
less  than  any  of  those  above  named. 

No  law  school  of  the  country  has  more  than  a  three  years'  curri- 
culum. Harvard  requires  for  admission  graduation  from  some  college, 
not  insisting  on  any  definite  standard  for  the  college  course.  Of  the 
students  who  enter  the  Harvard  Law  School  from  Harvard  College, 
sixty  per  cent  have  taken  the  college  course  in  three  years.  Leland 
Stanford,  Chicago,  Columbia,  California,  Western  Reserve  and  Yale 
require  for  admission  to  tlie  Law  School  three  years  of  college  work 
in  a  standard  college,  the  first  year  of  the  Law  School  counting  also  as 
the  fourth  year  for  the  Bachelor's  degree. 

Thus,  of  the  leading  medical  schools  of  the  country  three  require 
for  the  combined  college  and  medical  course  eight  years,  though  in  the 
case  of  one  of  these  some  abatements  are  permitted.  A  second  small 
group  require  seven  years ;  a  third  and  larger  group  require  six  years, 
and  the  great  body  of  colleges  require  less  than  this,  most  of  them  only 
four  years. 

Of  the  leading  Law  Schools  only  one  of  them  requires  a  college 
course  and  three  years  in  law,  seven  years  in  all,  and  this  so  permits  the 
shortening  of  the  college  course  as  to  make  the  total  six  years  suffice 
in  a  large  number  of  cases.  All  the  other  leading  schools  require  six 
years,  and  the  great  bulk  of  the  schools  in  the  country  require  much 
less  than  this. 

There  are  about  sixty  theological  schools  in  the  country  whose 
curriculum  is  primarily  intended  for  college  graduates.  I  am  unable 
to  say  precisely  how  many  of  these  insist  upon  a  college  course  for  ad- 
mission or  as  a  pre-requisite  to  a  theological  degree.  I  suspect  that  not 
over  one-third  of  the  number  do  so.  The  Divinity  School  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago  requires  a  college  course  for  admission  to  its  degree 
course,  and  a  Bachelor's  degree  equivalent  to  that  of  the  University  of 
Chicago  as  pre-requisite  to  granting  the  degree,  but  the  L^niversity 
accepts  towards  its  Bachelor's  degree  the  first  year  in  theology,  thus 
permitting  a  reduction  of  the  total  college  and  theological  course  to  six 
years.  This  last  provision,  however,  afifects  a  very  small  proportion 
of  the  students  and  is  almost  a  negligible  quantity. 


54  COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION. 

Thus  it  remains  true  that  the  standard  course  in  theology  is  three 
years,  and  the  standard  pre-requisite  a  four-year  college  course,  mak- 
ing seven  in  all. 

It  should  be  remembered,  as  stated  above,  that  as  things  are  now 
a  very  considerable  part  of  the  ablest  and  most  ambitious  students  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  lengthen  their  theological  course  to 
four  or  even  five  years,  either  by  continuing  in  the  school  of  their  first 
choice  by  going  to  another  school  in  this  country  or  by  going  abroad 
on  the  traveling  fellowships  which  not  a  few  schools  oflfer  to  their 
best  students. 

Now,  since  any  lengthening  of  the  curriculum  would  undoubtedly 
affect  first  the  schools  which  have  the  highest  standard,  the  question 
before  us  is  whether  the  Board  should  use  its  influence  to  induce  the 
schools  which  now  have  a  standard  three-year  theological  curriculum 
resting  upon  a  four  years'  college  course  to  increase  that  requirement 
by  demanding  four  years  in  theology. 

To  this  question  I  am  constrained  to  return  a  negative  answer. 

I  freely  admit  that  three  years  is  all  too  short  a  time  to  enable  the 
student  to  acquire  the  knowledge  and  training  in  method  with  which 
it  is  desirable  that  he  should  enter  the  Christian  ministry.  In  particular 
I  clearly  see  the  desirability  that  the  candidate  for  the  ministry  should 
learn  more  than  he  now  does  about  non-Christian  religions  and  lands, 
and  about  the  principles  and  history  of  Christian  missions.  But  that 
does  not  decide  the  question  in  favor  of  an  additional  year,  for  four 
years  or  even  five  are  also  too  short  a  time  in  which  to  learn  all  that 
the  student  needs  to  know,  and  there  are  serious  objections  to  the  pro- 
posed remedy — which,  after  all,  is  inadequate. 

The  first  of  these  objections  is  that  the  present  curriculum,  de- 
manding four  years  in  college  and  three  years  in  the  Seminary,  delays 
quite  long  enough  the  man's  entry  into  the  ministry.  I  am  unable  to 
present  an  exhaustive  analysis  of  the  situation.  I  can  only  record  my 
impression  that  in  consequence  of  the  rising  standard  of  requirements 
for  admission  to  college,  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  the  students  to 
prefer  self-support,  or  of  the  schools  to  require  it,  an  increasing  ten- 
dency to  make  choice  of  the  ministry  as  a  life-work  after  completing 
the  college  course,  and  perhaps  after  marrying,  the  men  who  take  a 
full  college  and  theological  training  are  entering  the  ministry  on  an 
average  later  than  was  formerly  the  case.  I  am  entirely  sure  that  bv 
prolonging  the  theological  course  we  incur  serious  danger  of  dulling 
the  keen  interest  of  men  in  the  actual  work  of  the  ministry  and  sub- 
stituting for  their  early  enthusiasm  for  that  work  an  intellectual  in- 
terest in  the  vast  field  of  interesting  study  which  the  theological  curri- 
culum opens  up  to  them.  A  few  men  can  and  ought  to  study  theology 
in  the  schools  more  than  three  years.  On  a  much  larger  number  the 
effect  would  be  harmful  rather  than  helpful. 

In  the  Divinity  School  of  the  University  of  Qiicago,  which  is  so 
organized  that  it  is  relatively  easy  for  a  student  to  begin  and  end  his 
course  at  any  time,  and  men  do,  in  fact,  pursue  their  course  not  in 
classes  but  as  individuals,  it  is  constantly  necessary  to  be  on  our  guard 
against  allowing  men  to  stay  too  long.  Some  of  the  best  men  have 
now  and  then  to  be  forcibly  required  to  leave  the  school. 

The  second  objection  that  I  have  to  the  proposal  is  the  very  great 
cost  involved.  If  it  is  proposed  simply  to  make  it  possible  for  the  ex- 
ceptional man  to  lengthen  his  course  to  four  or  five  years,  the  oppor- 
tunity for  that  already  exists  in  half  a  dozen  schools  of  the  country  and 
abroad.    That,  however,  is  not  the  proposition  before  us.     It  contem- 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  55 

plates  a  general  effort  to  lengthen  the  standard  theological  course  to 
four  years.  For  the  sixty  theological  schools  of  the  country  to  carry 
out  this  programme  would  cost  millions  of  dollars.  It  ought  to  be  done 
if  it  is  necessary  to  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  or  will  strongly  con- 
tribute to  it.  For  the  reasons  given  above,  I  do  not  believe  it  would  do 
so.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe  it  would  result  in  a  loss.  The  end  which 
is  sought  can,  I  am  persuaded,  be  more  effectively  achieved  in  another 
way. 

The  remedy  for  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  theological  curri- 
culum is  to  be  found  in  two  directions : 

1.  The  theological  curriculum  can  no  longer  even  attempt  to  give 
to  the  student  all  the  knowledge,  within  the  scope  of  the  profession, 
that  he  will  need  in  the  ministry.  The  field  of  knowledge,  whether  of 
the  Bible,  or  the  history  of  the  Church,  or  systematic  theology,  or  the 
social  application  of  Christianity,  or  the  present  problems  pertaining 
to  the  extension  of  Christianity  in  the  world,  is  too  broad  to  be  covered 
in  school  days.  The  theological  course  must  be  regarded  purely  as  an 
introduction  to  this  field,  and  the  curriculum  must  be  organized  from 
that  point  of  view.  It  must  aim  to  give  the  student  a  survey  of  the 
whole  field,  to  show  him  the  tools  with  which  his  work  as  a  student  of 
religion  and  as  a  promoter  of  Christianity  is  to  be  done,  to  give  a  suffi- 
cient stock  of  ideas  and  convictions  to  enable  him  to  begin  his  work, 
and  especially  sufficient  training  in  the  methods  of  investigation  to 
make  it  possible  if  not  also  probable  that  he  will  continue  to  be  a  stu- 
dent throughout  his  ministry.  For  this  even  three  years  is  a  short 
time;  but  by  skillful  organization  of  the  curriculum  it  can  be  done  in 
that  time.  When  it  is  done  the  large  majority  of  the  students  should 
be  pushed  out  into  the  work. 

2.  It  should  be  strongly  impressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  student 
that  his  work  as  a  student  is  only  just  begun  when  he  leaves  the  school, 
and  he  should  be  encouraged,  not  only  to  keep  up  his  studies  while  in 
the  pastorate,  but  to  plan  for  occasional  periods  of  study  in  school. 
This  is  much  easier  than  formerly.  The  Summer  Schools  and  Summer 
terms  of  schools  that  have  such  afford  an  easy  opportunity  to  take  up 
definite  work  under  competent  instruction.  Schools  whose  plants  now 
lie  idle  for  four  months  in  the  year  ought  perhaps  to  add  a  Summer 
term.  The  expense  would  be  insignificant  compared  with  that  of  add- 
ing a  fourth  year.  But  many  men  ought  to  plan  not  only  for  an  occa- 
sional Summer  term,  but  also  for  an  occasional  full  year  of  study. 
There  is  a  considerable  number  of  schools  whose  wide  range  of  elec- 
tives  make  such  a  year  quite  possible  so  far  as  the  school  is  concerned ; 
the  financial  load  for  the  student  is  less  difficult  than  in  the  case  of  the 
fourth  year  added  to  the  regular  curriculum,  and  the  profit  to  the  man 
himself  likely  to  be  far  greater.  Coming  back  after  five  years  or  so 
in  the  ministry,  he  is  likely  to  get  fully  twice  as  much  out  of  a  year's 
study  as  he  would  have  done  by  adding  a  fourth  year  to  the  present 
standard  of  three. 

For  the  missionary  returning  on  furlough  such  an  occasional  year 
of  study  is,  of  course,  particularly  easy,  and  many  are  availing  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity.  For  the  minister  at  home  the  difficulties  are 
perhaps  greater,  but  they  can  in  many  cases  be  overcome. 

It  is  not  precisely  on  the  topic  assigned  to  me,  but  I  am  constrained 
to  add  my  opinion,  perhaps  in  partial  dissent  from  the  Committee  re- 
port to  which  I  affixed  my  signature,  that  the  increase  of  the  theologi- 
cal course  of  the  missionary  to  four  years  should  as  speedily  as  pos- 


56  COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION. 

sible,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases,  be  effected,  not  by  adding  a  fourth 
year  at  home,  but  by  pursuing  a  full  year  of  preliminary  study  on  the 
field.  I  trust  the  day  is  near  at  hand  when,  for  every  great  mission 
field,  there  will  be  not  simply  language  schools,  but  schools  for  the  study 
of  the  history,  customs,  literature  and  religion  of  the  country,  and  of 
the  history  and  principles  of  missions.  The  Language  School  of  the 
University  of  Nanking  is  a  happy  augury,  I  hope,  of  what  we  shall 
see,  more  fully  developed,  in  every  important  country  to  which  we  are 
sending  missionaries. 

In  conclusion,  then,  I  am  compelled  to  return  a  negative  answer 
to  the  question  proposed  to  me  for  discussion. 

Dr.  R.  P.  Mackay:  There  are  three  or  four  propositions  that 
occur  to  me.  In  the  first  place,  every  college  curriculum  is  prepared 
on  the  assumption  that  it  lays  the  foundation  of  a  liberal  education. 
If  it  does  not  do  that  it  is  not  a  suitable  curriculum ;  but  that  is  the  in- 
tention. That  being  the  case,  we  should  not  distract  students  so  as  to 
prevent  them  from  taking  the  full  course,  completing  the  curriculum 
so  far  as  that  is  possible.  The  first  years  in  education  are  most  im- 
portant. They  lay  foundations ;  all  subsequent  years  build  upon  these 
foundations.  Anything  that  weakens  the  course  will  be  to  the  perma- 
nent disadvantage  of  the  student. 

I  notice  that  the  tw^elve  subjects  named  in  this  report  are,  with 
one  or  two  exceptions,  already  included  in  the  curriculum  of  our  col- 
leges. Tliey  are  all  there  except  the  philosophy  and  history  of  peda- 
gogy, phonetics  and  tropical  conditions.  These  are  the  three  not  found 
in  ordinary  colleges,  and  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  interfere  with  the 
ordinary  course  in  order  to  introduce  them.  The  course  is  already 
heavy  for  ordinary  students,  and  the  result  would  be  to  weaken  the 
entire  course  and  do  justice  to  no  part  of  it.  A  fourth  year  would  be 
better  than  that,  although  not  likely  to  be  entertained. 

We  have  in  our  college  in  Toronto  a  B.  D.  course,  which  students 
who  wish  to  do  so  may  take  whilst  pursuing  the  ordinary  course.  They 
work  out  their  B.  D.  by  the  time  they  are  through  with  the  theological 
course.  Would  it  be  possible  to  have  a  mission  course  as  an  alternative 
to  the  B.  D.  course — an  honor  course  in  missions  which  would  meet  the 
purpose  in  view?  That  applies  to  the  abler  students.  The  regular 
course  is  heavy  enough  for  ordinary  students,  if  the  work  is  well  done. 

All  are  agreed  that  there  ought  to  be  some  sort  of  preparation, 
either  before  students  go  to  the  field  or  immediately  upon  getting  there. 
The  latter  may  be  the  better;  but,  at  any  rate,  there  should  be  some 
course  given  not  at  the  present  time  provided  for  in  our  theological 
colleges.  If  this  cannot  be  done  in  the  colleges,  then  let  it  be  done  by 
such  a  post  graduate  course  as  is  already  provided  in  some  places.  It 
is  unquestionably  important,  and  is  becoming  more  important  as  the 
years  pass. 

The  only  considerations  that  stand  in  the  way  are  time  and  money. 
Another  year  would,  in  the  long  run,  be  a  saving  of  time  and  money. 
The  man  who  goes  out  with  such  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  work 
as  would  be  acquired  in  a  post  graduate  course  would  not  only  save 
years  of  time,  but  have  an  entirely  different  tone  during  the  rest  of  his 
life.  It  would  be  for  both  Boards  and  missions  an  economy  of  time 
and  an  increase  of  strength.  If  so,  financial  considerations  ought  not 
to  stand  in  the  way.  If  it  is  important,  as  we  think  it  is,  the  money 
can  be  provided.  It  does  not  mean  very  much,  after  all,  to  help  a  stu- 
dent to  an  extra  year  in  special  preparation. 

Another  consideration  that  weighs  with  me,  but  more  difficult  to 


COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION.  57 

state,  is  that  there  might  be  a  spiritual  atmosphere  developed  where 
students  are  concentrating  upon  these  special  subjects  that  is  not  at 
present  attainable  in  ordinary  colleges.  There  is  a  general  complaint, 
and  professors  complain  more  than  others,  that  there  is  not  the  spiritual 
atmosphere  they  would  like  to  see.  Professors  have  said  to  me :  "We 
would  like  to  see  something  different,  but  are  not  able,  for  some  cause, 
to  reach  it."  Now  it  might  be  possible,  and,  I  think,  would  be  possible, 
where  a  number  of  men  and  women  are  concentrating  in  their  life- 
work  to  rise  into  a  higher  experience  in  what  the  missionary  life  should 
be.  If  we  are  to  have  one  of  two  things — spiritual  vision  or  scholar- 
ship— ^then  let  us  have  the  latter.  But  we  ought  to  have  both,  and  they 
are  quite  reconcilable.  In  my  judgment,  we  ought  to  give  all  possible 
emphasis  to  the  proposal  before  us — have  such  special  courses  and  let 
part  of  the  work  at  least  be  done  in  this  country.  It  is  not  clear  that 
all  can  be  done  so  well  in  the  home  land,  but  part  at  least  can,  and,  if  so, 
ought  to  be  done  before  going  to  the  mission  field. 

Prof.  John  H.  Strong:  I  feel  that  the  imposition  of  another  year 
on  the  prospective  missionary  ought  to  be  favored  only  under  the  most 
compulsory  reasons. 

In  the  first  place,  the  course  of  preparation  is  long  and  costly  as 
it  is.  I  was  recently  looking  over  a  series  of  autobiographical  accounts 
written  in  the  interests  of  our  faculty  at  Rochester  by  the  incoming 
students,  and  I  was  amazed  at  the  vicissitudes,  the  struggles  witli  pov- 
erty, the  alternations  of  occupation,  the  interruptions  of  study,  through 
which  those  men  had  already  pushed  to  arrive  at  a  theological  seminary. 
While  some  few  individuals  may  be  swept  through  luxuriously  by  their 
friends  and  parents,  most  of  the  men  pay  a  big  price  of  self-sacrifice 
and  rigorous  economy  and  outside  labor ;  and  while  that  may  only  seem 
a  proper  price  for  a  man  to  pay  who  is  entering  such  a  work  as  that, 
and  while  anyone  who  is  not  willing  to  pay  a  price  of  that  kind  would 
demonstrate  thereby  his  own  incompetence,  at  the  same  time  I  think 
we  ought  to  remember  that  it  is  "by  hope"  that  these  men  have  been 
saved  through  their  whole  course,  and  an  unnecessary  deferring  of  the 
active  work  for  which  they  have  been  suffering  and  sacrificing  so  much 
ought  to  be  avoided. 

In  the  second  place,  the  men  as  they  get  out  now  are  already  not 
young.  Twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  years  old,  isn't  that  it?  The 
time  of  plasticity  is  leaving  them.  The  time  at  which  they  are  open 
to  the  easy  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  of  the  new  spirit  of  a  people 
is  going.  The  time  at  which  they  are  acceptable  to  the  Boards  is 
going ;  and  who  knows  but  the  very  year  on  which  we  lay  hands  for 
special  study  might  not  be  in  the  foreign  field  a  strategic  year  in  many 
an  instance? 

In  the  third  place,  there  are  grave  dangers  to  the  religious  life  and 
ultimate  success  of  men  involved  in  protracted  periods  of  theoretical 
study.  Too  many  theological  students  are  trained  away  from  the 
world,  away  from  their  early  simplicity  and  ardor,  away  from  tlie  very 
thing  that  they  are  sent  out  to  stand  for.  There  is  an  evaporation  of 
faith  in  too  many  instances  in  theological  seminaries  which  only  the 
utmost  vigilance  and  prayer  and  watch-care  are  able  to  counteract ;  and 
for  us  to  still  further  separate  a  man  from  his  active  work  by  interpos- 
ing another  year  of  theoretical  and  the  cloistered  life  is  hazardous. 

Well,  shall  these  added  studies,  then,  he  inserted  into  the  ordinary 
theological  course  as  it  now  exists  ?  Shall  they  be  compressed  into  that 
course,  while  retaining  the  things  which  we  are  now  giving  ministerial 
students?     Such  a  course  is  attended  with  great  difficulties.     It  may 


58  COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION. 

be,  as  has  been  said  this  morning,  that  there  is  not  as  much  demanded 
of  theological  students  as  of  medical  students ;  but  I  think  we  have  to 
remember  the  different  genius  of  the  theological  course  as  compared 
with  the  medical  course.  There  is  much  more  cramming  in  a  medical 
school  than  in  a  theological  school.  Theological  preparation  presup- 
poses time  for  meditation  and  reading,  time  for  a  man  to  come  to  him- 
self. And  how  many  of  these  men  come  to  us  spiritually  raw  and  un- 
made? They  have  not  found  themselves.  They  have  no  idea  of  the 
world.  They  have  no  idea  of  their  resources.  Many  of  them 
have  no  conception  of  the  gospel  itself.  Now,  crowded  courses  are 
not  going  to  help  these  men.  They  are  not  going  to  get  their  instruction 
on  the  run.  What  they  want  is  room  and  quiet,  and  that  in  the  most 
religious  atmosphere  possible ;  and  when  I  think  of  crowding  upon  such 
men  still  further  work,  I  have  no  courage  to  face  the  consequences. 

Can  what  we  want  be  done,  then,  by  the  elimination  of  certain 
studies  that  we  now  have?  Can  we  eliminate  the  practical  work?  Of 
course,  there  is  a  lot  of  practical  work  that  men  do.  They  preach,  they 
teach,  they  do  outside  work.  We  have  got  to  consider,  I  think,  the 
effect  on  their  own  characters  and  independence  if  they  are  robbed 
of  the  partial  means  of  self-support.  I  do  not  see,  either,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  their  own  religious  lives,  how  they  can  be  denied  the  corrective 
of  preaching  and  of  doing  some  outside  Christian  work.  That  is  the 
one  thing  that  holds  them  true.  It  is  very  impressive  to  me  to  see  how 
men  who  come  to  us  all  upset,  when  put  on  the  evangelistic  band,  will 
tone  up  and  get  their  feet  down  on  the  rock  again  and  begin  to  have  a 
sense  of  proportion. 

If  we  cannot  discard  the  practical  work,  shall  we  cut  out  some  of 
the  other  courses  now  given  ?  Well,  I  confess  I  do  not  know  what  we 
are  going  to  cut  out.  I  have  not  that  idea  of  a  theological  course  as 
the  infinitely  elastic  thing  which  some  laymen  take  it  to  be  who  are  so 
free  in  their  suggestions  of  practically  remodeling  all  that  we  are  doing. 
What  are  we  going  to  drop  out?  Are  we  going  to  drop  out  our  Greek 
courses?  It  looks  as  if  the  colleges  were  going  to  try  to  make  us  do  it; 
but  I,  for  my  part,  think  it  will  be  a  sad  day  for  our  ministry,  both  on 
the  home  and  foreign  field,  when  that  great  gateway  into  the  wealth 
and  truth  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  is  denied  the  student. 
Are  we  going  to  drop  his  critical  and  historical  Biblical  studies?  I  do 
not  see  how  we  can  drop  them  when  the  problems  involved  are  being 
raised,  not  simply  in  Germany  and  England  and  our  country,  but  on  the 
very  mission  field  where  these  men  are  going  to  work. 

Shall  we  drop  the  Theology?  Shall  we  send  a  man  out  without 
any  idea  of  constructive  religious  truth,  the  genetic  and  the  organic 
relations  of  the  things  which  he  believes  ?  Shall  we  drop  Church  His- 
tory? Not  if  these  men  are  going  to  found  churches  which  they  are  to 
inspire  by  the  great  examples  of  the  Church  in  the  past  and  save  from 
the  vagaries  and  the  fanaticisms  and  the  tortuous  wanderings  of  that 
same  history.  Shall  we  cut  out  the  English  Bible?  To  mention  it  is 
to  answer  the  question. 

It  is  not  my  function  to  say  what  ought  to  be  done.  It  seems  to 
me,  however,  that  possibly  less  than  the  equivalent  of  a  year's  special 
work  might  in  some  other  way  be  put  in.  I  wish  I  were  fully  persuaded 
that  all  these  special  studies  are  as  indispensable  as  they  are  repre- 
sented to  be.  But  it  may  be  that  some  of  them  could  be  put  in — possi- 
bly by  the  use  of  vacations.  For  example,  here  are  two  four-month 
vacations  which  a  man  might  put  in  in  some  summer  school.  There 
would  be  eight  months — two-thirds  of  a  year — for  these  studies.  Would 
not  that  help? 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  59 

Then  I  should  like  to  see — I  have  no  right  to  speak  on  this  aspect 
of  the  subject,  but  may  I  say  just  a  word? — I  should  like  to  see,  say, 
the  last  vacation,  or  an  equal  period  of  time,  spent  under  supervision 
corresponding  to  that  which  the  China  Inland  Mission  furnishes  in  its 
homes,  where  a  man  is  under  the  most  careful  scrutiny  and  tutelage ; 
where  he  shows,  perhaps,  how  much  knack  he  has  at  getting  hold  of  a 
spoken  language ;  where  he  proves  spontaneously  how  much  love  for 
souls  he  has  by  the  amount  of  personal  work  he  is  doing;  where  he 
shows  how  much  faith  he  has  by  the  amount  he  prays,  and  how  much 
co-operating  power  by  the  way  he  mixes  and  gets  on  with  other  people. 
The  Boards  would  be  helped  by  such  a  process,  in  which  those  incap- 
ables  could  be  weeded  out  who  go  abroad,  in  spite  of  all  the  scrutiny 
we  can  give  them,  to  become  a  discouragement  to  themselves  and  a 
burden  to  others.  The  selective  process  in  a  theological  seminary  is 
not  complete.  I  should  like  to  see  more  homes  of  that  kind,  furnishing 
a  religious  atmosphere  where  men  would  be  made  to  glow  in  soul  and 
enter  from  a  baptismal  experience  upon  the  work  abroad  which  they 
have  set  themselves  to  do. 

Pres.  C.  T.  Paul:  It  is  not  at  all  easy  to  give  a  rightlv  discrimi- 
nating and  impartial  reply  to  this  question,  because  of  the  many  issues 
involved  in  it,  and  because  of  the  widely  divergent  views  that  have  been 
expressed,  not  only  by  missionaries  on  the  field,  but  by  missionary  ex- 
perts at  home. 

The  report  of  Dr.  Erdman's  committee  practically  as.'^umes  the 
validity  of  the  main  positions  of  the  Edinburgh  report  concerning  the 
necessity  of  higher  standards  and  higher  practice  in  missionary  prepa- 
ration. Concerning  that  necessity  no  longer  any  doubt  or  question  seems 
to  exist.  This  conviction  is  strengthened  by  the  presentation  of  Dr. 
Barton's  report  this  morning.  Now,  a  very  significant  element  in  the 
situation  is  the  fact  that  the  expression  which  has  been  given  by  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  and  by  the  committees  here  at  work  regarding 
the  necessity  of  higher  missionary  education  is  based  on  the  appeals 
and  the  demands  of  the  present  foreign  missionary  body,  and  there- 
fore, of  course,  casts  no  discourteous  reflection  upon  them.  Our 
problem  is  to  make  adequate  response  to  what  the  missionaries  on  the 
field  have  asked  the  home  church  to  do. 

It  is  from  the  missionaries  that  the  severest  criticisms  of  the 
present  inadequacy  in  missionary  preparation  have  come.  If  I  rightly 
interpret  the  report  of  Commission  V,  the  missionaries  are  asking  the 
home  churches  to  produce  and  to  send  to  the  field  men  and  women  of 
superior  training  and  personality. 

The  fact  that  the  missionaries  have  already  begun  to  establish 
language  schools  on  the  foreign  field  is  not,  I  think,  to  be  taken  as  an 
indication  of  a  general  policy  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  to  attempt 
to  provide  all  the  disciplines  which  are  recommended  as  necessary  to 
special  missionary  preparation.  We  may  take  it,  indeed,  as  an  evidence 
of  their  urgency  in  the  matter,  and  of  an  eager  attempt  to  meet  the 
situation  as  early  as  possible  and  as  best  they  can.  But  we  are  not  to 
conclude  that  the  entire  work  of  better  training  is  to  be  relegated  to  the 
foreign  field.  I  wish,  therefore,  to  support  the  proposition  that  the 
foundations  of  the  superior  equipment  required  in  missionary  prepara- 
tion must  be  secured  at  home. 

In  the  first  place,  we  have  in  the  home  lands  superior  facilities 
for  giving  many  of  the  required  disciplines.  This  is  true  as  regards 
libraries  and  expert  instructors  who  are  specialists  in  their  subjects. 
These  specialists  are  equipped  to  do  a  work  which  even  the  missionary 


60  COMMITTEE   IL— DISCUSSION. 

scholar  on  the  field  can  hardly  be  expected  to  perform — certainly  not 
in  addition  to  his  other  duties.  I  believe  the  educational  forces  in  the 
home  land  are  not  only  superior  (as  regards  facilities)  but  ample  and 
available.  It  is  only  a  question  of  rightly  coordinating  and  directing 
to  proper  ends,  to  the  desired  ends,  the  educational  forces  and  facilities 
that  we  have. 

Let  us  take,  for  example,  Biblical  training.  Surely  this  can  be 
given  more  thoroughly  and  easily  at  home  than  abroad.  It  would  be  a 
much  more  serious  and  ominous  confession  regarding  the  deficiencies 
and  weaknesses  of  theological  seminaries  than  any  of  us  would  care  to 
admit  to  say  that  the  amount  of  Bible  instruction  to  fully  equip  a 
foreign  missionary  cannot  be  given  in  America.  I  do  not  believe  there 
is  one  of  us  here  who  would  like  to  say  that.  Whether  it  is  being  given 
is  perhaps  another  question.  President  Mackenzie  has  emphasized  in 
his  report  the  great  necessity  for  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  in  its  historical  aspect  and  in  its  fundamental  teachings. 
Surely  we  are  not  disputing  the  proposition  that  this  knowledge  can 
be,  and  is  being,  adequately  provided  for  in  our  theological  seminaries. 
Or,  if  we  go  so  far  as  to  question  whether  it  is  being  adequately  pro- 
vided, surely  the  possibilities  of  extension  and  development  in  the  ex- 
isting curricula  are  quite  within  reach.  If  a  new  demand  is  made  on 
the  seminaries  will  they  not  meet  it  ? 

I  am  struck  by  the  fact,  from  my  limited  experience  and  from  in- 
vestigations that  I  have  been  carrying  on  for  some  time,  of  the  general 
confession  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  themselves,  that  the  great 
lack  in  their  preparation  has  been  along  Biblical  lines.  Many  are  con- 
fessing their  inadequate  knowledge  of  even  the  fundamental  truths  of 
Christianity.  They  had  not  suspected  their  deficiency  in  this  respect 
until  they  went  out  to  the  field  and  got  into  a  different  educational  and 
religious  environment,  and  found  themselves  called  upon  to  state  the 
Christian  verities  in  a  new  light.  Many,  having  found  their  knowledge 
very  much  lacking,  spend  a  portion  of  their  furlough  in  such  institu- 
tions as  provide  Biblical  instruction. 

I  think  no  one  would  contend  that  the  preparation  in  sociology 
ought  not  to  be  given  at  home.  In  view  of  the  great  social  changes 
that  are  now  taking  place  in  the  Far  East,  in  view  of  the  general  up- 
heaval, the  breaking  down  of  custom  and  the  almost  universal  social 
readjustment  in  non-Christian  lands,  we  need  to  send  out  to  the  foreign 
field  men  who  have  the  sociological  viewpoint  to  begin  with — ^^men  who 
have  been  trained  in  the  science  of  sociology  and  have  at  their  hand  the 
experience  of  the  West  in  social  questions.  If  a  man  goes  out  to  the 
field  with  this  training  he  has  an  illumined  judgment  and  a  faculty  of 
discrimination  which  will  enable  him  rightly  to  interpret  the  social 
conditions  and  problems  of  his  particular  field,  and  to  bring  to  bear 
upon  it  in  an  effective  way  his  religious  training  and  his  religious  ac- 
tivity. I  take  the  opportunity  of  quoting  here  a  statement  from  an 
article  written  by  Dr.  E.  W.  Capen,  some  time  ago,  in  "The  East  and 
the  West,"  on  the  "Social  Changes  in  the  East."  He  said  this :  "Chris- 
tian educational  institutions  should,  with  deliberation,  thoroughness 
and  vigor,  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  training  leaders  for  these  social 
movements."  "He  [the  missionary]  himself  needs  to  have  the  train- 
ing he  would  impart  to  others." 

Surely  the  provisions  for  the  study  of  educational  science,  or 
pedagogy,  are  better  and  more  abundant  here  than  they  are  on  the 
foreign  field  or  can  possibly  be  there.  Great  schools  of  education  con- 
nected with  various  universities  are  already  available  here  with  large 


COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION.  61 

equipment  and  able  faculties.  It  would  be  a  long  time  before  the  mis- 
sionaries on  the  foreign  field  could  provide  the  requisite  expert  in- 
struction in  this  science  in  any  way  to  compare  with  what  can  be  done 
at  home. 

And  then  in  the  subject  of  the  history  and  comparison  of  religions, 
I  believe  that  a  certain  training  is  absolutely  necessary  before  a  man 
goes  to  the  field.  He  should  be  brought  into  contact  with  the  general 
tendency  of  modern  thought  regarding  the  religious  values  of  life, 
the  meaning  of  religion  and  the  place  of  religion  in  the  constructive 
thought  of  the  age.  It  is  all  very  well  for  him  after  he  gets  to  the  field 
to  take  up  in  an  intensive  and  intimate  way  the  study  of  the  religion 
of  that  field ;  but  it  seems  to  me  he  needs  this  general  background  be- 
fore proceeding  to  the  field.  I  received  a  letter  just  a  few  days  ago 
from  two  missionaries  in  India — one  of  them,  by  the  way,  is  the 
president  of  a  college  and  also  a  doctor  of  philosophy.  These  men 
lamented  their  failure  to  secure  a  good  course  in  the  history  and 
philosophy  of  religion  before  they  went  out  to  India.  One  said,  "I 
can  study  the  data  of  the  popular  religion  here,  but  I  lack  the  his- 
torical background.  I  do  not  know  the  underlying  philosophy  of  primi- 
tive religion  and  I  lack  the  facilities  for  securing  it  here." 

Systematic  instruction  in  the  history  and  science  of  missions  ought 
to  be  given  to  the  candidate  before  he  goes  to  do  missionary  work. 
That  is  something  that  he  cannot  pick  up  in  just  a  few  weeks.  It  is 
a  pretty  broad  field.  The  superior  library  facilities,  such  as  the  great 
missionary  library  at  Yale,  and  the  growing  number  of  instructors  in 
these  subjects  in  seminaries  and  elsewhere  at  home,  would  justify  u^ 
in  recommending  the  incorporation  of  such  subjects  in  the  educational 
policy  here. 

A  word  about  language  study.  The  Edinburgh  report  left  the 
question  as  to  whether  language  study  should  be  entered  upon  at  home 
or  taken  wholly  on  the  field,  an  open  but  a  vital  question.  Perhaps 
there  is  no  subject  mentioned  on  which  more  divergent  and  even  con- 
flicting opinions  have  been  offered.  On  one  phase  of  this  question  we 
are,  however,  rapidly  coming  to  agreement,  viz. :  that  every  missionary 
going  out  should  at  least  have  an  introduction  to  the  science  of  pho- 
netics, some  training  in  special  methods  of  language  study,  and  also  an 
introduction  to  the  science  of  philology  in  general.  It  is  a  very  helpful 
thing  to  create  in  the  future  missionary  a  scientific  appreciation  of 
linguistic  phenomena,  an  intellectual  interest  in  the  question  of  lan- 
guage acquisition,  and  I  believe  that  can  better  be  done  at  home  than 
abroad. 

And  I  am  not  so  sure  that  a  good  deal  more  might  not  be  done  in 
the  way  of  actual  instruction  in  the  vernaculars,  at  home,  than  is 
generally  supposed.  In  1905  I  had  the  pleasure  of  traveling  to  the 
East  with  a  company  of  Belgian  Catholic  missionaries.  There  were 
about  twenty  of  them  in  the  group.  During  their  seminary  years  these 
men  had  taken  a  course  in  Chinese  under  an  instructor  who  had  been 
brought  from  China.  They  had  been  instructed  in  the  language  for 
six  years  and  were  actually  going  out  to  China  with  a  fairly  good  con- 
versational knowledge  of  the  language,  and  able  to  read  quite  fluently. 
Obviously  these  men  were  going  to  their  work  with  a  very  great  advan- 
tage over  the  missionaries  who  go  out  with  no  such  instruction.  I 
firmly  believe  that  a  useful  beginning  might  be  made  under  certain  con- 
ditions at  home  in  the  study  of  the  vernaculars,  or  at  least  certain  of 
the  great  languages,  like  Hindi,  Arabic,  Japanese  and  Chinese.  Of 
course,  everything  would  depend  on  the  instructors  and  upon  the  gen- 


62  COMMITTEE    IT.— DISCUSSION. 

eral  conditions,  but  I  believe  that  these  conditions  could  be  secured. 
Germany  will  teach  us  a  good  deal  in  this  respect,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
the  proposed  School  of  Oriental  Studies  in  London  will  have  some 
valuable  lessons  for  us. 

Just  a  word  in  conclusion  regarding  certain  advantages  that  seem 
lO  me  attached  to  special  institutions,  where  post-graduate  supple- 
mentary missionary  training  can  be  given.  Several  of  the  speakers 
have  referred  to  the  possibility  of  turning  out  a  man  very  highly  skilled 
intellectually  but  with  his  spiritual  life  cold  and  dried  up.  If  I  may  be 
permitted  to  refer  to  a  little  personal  experience,  I  have  this  testimony 
to  bear  regarding  our  own  institution  at  Indianapolis.  We  had  last 
year  a  group  of  sixteen,  all  of  them  post-graduate  students.  Seven  of 
them  went  out  to  three  continents  this  year.  They  bear  witness  to  the 
great  value  to  them,  during  their  special  preparation,  of  their  asso- 
ciation with  others  who  were  making  similar  preparation.  To  have  a 
group  of  students  with  the  same  great  life  purpose,  looking  forward 
to  the  same  great  end,  interested  in  the  same  things,  pursuing  special 
missionary  studies  in  a  vital  spiritual  atmosphere,  is  certainly  a  great 
advantage  in  relation  to  missionary  education.  Good  results  have  al- 
ready been  secured  in  such  institutions  in  the  development  of  a  strong 
spiritual  life.  There  is,  of  course,  a  danger  that  students  in  such  special 
institutions  may  become  too  theoretical,  as  Dr.  Strong  suggested. 
But  provision  can  be  made  against  that  possibility.  We  require  all  of 
our  students  to  do  practical  work  while  they  are  pursuing  these  higher 
missionary  studies  with  us.  We  have  a  population  of  about  eight 
thousand  foreigners  down  in  the  center  of  Indianapolis,  where  we 
have  opened  a  school  and  a  mission.  In  this  mission  and  school  we 
have  put  all  of  our  candidates  to  work.  It  is  a  good  place  in  which  to 
test  them  out  and  to  see  what  they  can  do. 

Experience  leads  me  to  favor  special  missionary  instruction  at 
home  before  the  candidate  goes  out.  I  think  it  ought  to  be  post- 
graduate work,  extending  over  at  least  one  year. 

Dr.  R,  E.  Speer :  I  understand  that  this  question  relates,  not  to 
the  great  body  of  educational  equipment  which  missionary  candidates 
require  and  which  does  not  differ  essentially  in  their  case  from  the 
preparation  required  by  Christian  workers  at  home,  but  to  the  special 
training  which  missionary  candidates  should  receive  in  addition  to 
that  preparation  which  will  represent  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  their 
equipment ;  and  that  the  further  question  is  as  to  whether  that  special 
training  should  be  provided  in  the  regular  schools  that  now  exist  or  in 
special  sdiools  established  for  the  purpose,  and,  if  the  latter,  whether 
the  special  schools  should  be  in  the  home  land  or  on  the  foreign  mission 
field. 

In  the  first  place,  my  own  conviction  is  that  as  much  of  this  special 
training  as  possible  should  be  given  in  the  existing  regular  schools,  for 
the  reasons  that  have  already  been  suggested  this  morning  by  President 
King  and  others,  and  for  these  two  that  I  should  like  to  mention  in 
addition : 

First,  the  weakness  of  too  much  isolated  and  inbred  specialization 
of  training  in  any  particular  line.  Now  the  strength  of  the  missionary 
societies  in  Germany  has  lain  in  their  having  these  schools.  That  is  also 
their  weakness.  And  the  weakest  period  in  the  history  of  the  great 
English  missionary  societies  was  the  period  when  they  had  to  resort 
to  such  schools  to  produce  their  missionaries.  They  know  that  they 
are  in  a  far  better  position  now,  where  they  get  university  men,  trained 
in  a  great  variety  of  schools,  than  where  they  have  a  single  type,  a 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  63 

particular  brand  of  men,  sent  out  from  their  own  isolated  training 
schools.  Their  missions  are  richer.  We  get  a  better  result  with  a 
composite  judgment  and  temperament  brought  to  bear  upon  problems 
than  when  we  draw  all  our  men  from  inbred,  over-specialized  institu- 
tions for  their  training.  We  see  the  same  weakness  in  our  naval  and 
military  training.  West  Point  and  Annapolis  are  great  institutions, 
but  they  do  not  give  to  the  men  who  go  into  the  army  or  the  navy  that 
breadth  of  training  and  human  relationship  which  we  want  the  men 
who  go  out  into  the  mission  field  to  possess.     That  is  one  point. 

Secondly,  because  tlie  implication  seems  to  be  that  if  we  have  these 
specialized  schools  responsibility  for  their  establishm^ent  and  prosecu- 
tion devolves  upon  the  missionary  organizations.  I  think  there  is  a 
different  view  that  can  be  taken  of  the  history  of  the  whole  matter  than 
that  upon  which  emphasis  was  laid  this  morning.  It  is  not  that  we 
have  only  come  within  the  last  few  years  to  realize  the  need  of  the 
most  efficient  preparation  of  missionaries ;  it  is  that  we  have  almost 
come  to  despair  of  getting  it  in  any  other  way  than  by  taking  the  re- 
sponsibility ourselves.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  realized  this  need 
of  efficiency  for  many  decades,  and  the  agitation  has  been  going  on 
for  all  that  time ;  but  the  institutions  did  not  respond  to  the  agitation, 
so  that  the  pressure  now  is  for  the  missionary  organizations  to  recog- 
nize this  as  one  of  their  functions. 

Now,  they  were  not  established  to  carry  on  any  such  function. 
The  Church's  idea  was  not  that  the  missionary  boards  were  responsible 
both  for  carrying  on  the  missionary  work  and  for  educating  the  agents 
for  it.  The  colleges  were  established  for  training  men  for  the  min- 
istry at  home  and  abroad,  and  our  theological  institutions  were  estab- 
lished with  that  as  their  function,  and  they  got  their  endowments  with 
that  in  view.  Now  with  all  that  money  laid  in  their  hands  for  the  pur- 
pose of  training  the  men  for  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad,  I  question 
the  wisdom  of  the  foreign  boards  relieving  them  of  that  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility and  creating  now  an  atmosphere  throughout  the  Christian 
world  which  will  lead  them  to  find  it  to  be  easy  to  lay  aside  this  responsi- 
bility and  to  require  the  missionary  boards  to  take  on  this  additional 
function. 

Great  business  enterprises  are  not  run  on  that  basis.  The  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  could  not  get  along  without  civil  engineers.  It  does 
not  train  one.  It  takes  its  civil  engineers  from  Troy,  from  the  Sheffield 
Scientific  School,  from  the  scientific  schools  all  over  the  land,  and  after 
it  has  got  them  it  gives  them  its  own  special  experience,  but  it  has  no 
school  for  educating  civil  engineers.  The  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion does  not  educate  its  chemists,  does  not  even  educate  its  blast-fur- 
nace engineers.  It  takes  its  men  from  technical  schools  which  have 
been  established  for  the  purpose  of  giving  that  technical  education,  and 
then  in  actual  apprentice  work  gives  them  the  additional  training  which 
they  require. 

Now  those  are  the  additional  reasons  to  those  that  were  urged  this 
morning  why  it  seems  to  me  we  should  seek  to  hold  fast  to  the  principle 
that  even  this  special  training  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  given  in  the 
regular  existing  institutions. 

But  even  when  they  have  done  their  best  there  would  be  some 
further  special  training  that  is  needed,  and  the  second  query  is  as  to 
whether  that  training  should  be  given  in  special  schools  at  home  or  in 
special  schools  on  the  foreign  field. 

Now  I  doubt  whether  we  are  prepared  to  face  the  alternative  in 
that  sharp  form,  or  whether  any  of  us  are  now  of  a  mind  to  stand  flatly 


64  COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION. 

on  one  side  of  that  proposition  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  possibility. 
We  all  realize  that  we  have  got  to  feel  our  way  along,  and  I  believe 
that  there  is  need  and  room  now  for  both  types  of  institution  ;  that  there 
is  room  at  home  for  some  special  schools  designed  for  the  special 
preparation  of  missionaries,  maybe  not  for  foreign  missionaries  exclu- 
sively, but  for  tliose  who  are  to  undertake  missionary  work.  There  are 
certain  classes,  for  example,  like  the  young  women  whom  we  send  out, 
whom  the  theological  seminaries  make  no  provision  for.  Who  will 
give  them  any  of  this  special  training  for  the  mission  field  unless  there 
are  special  institutions  that  will  take  hold  of  that  class  ?  I  believe  there 
is  room  for  some  of  these  institutions. 

Professor  Paul  has  set  forth  adequately  the  arguments  for  the  ex- 
istence of  such  institutions  here.  Let  me  speak  merely,  without  say- 
ing what  was  in  my  mind  on  that  side,  of  what  is  to  be  said  in  favor  of 
the  establishment  of  such  institutions  on  the  mission  field,  not  array- 
ing this  especially  as  an  argument  against  their  existence  at  home,  but 
drawing  out  those  advantages  that  are  enjoyed  by  institutions  of  this 
kind  now  existent  or  to  be  set  up  on  the  foreign  field  itself. 

In  the  first  place,  will  it  not  be  a  far  more  economical  way  of  doing 
the  work?  We  cannot  have  one  institution  at  home  in  any  one  land. 
The  denominations  are  not  near  enough  to  permit  it.  There  will  be 
a  great  many  of  these  denominational  schools.  The  country  also  is 
too  large  to  have  one.  We  will  have  a  number  of  interdenominational 
schools.  The  number  of  them  will  be  greater  in  the  home  field  than 
it  would  be  necessary  to  have  on  the  foreign  field.  It  costs  more  to 
establish  any  one  of  them  at  home,  does  it  not,  and  adequately  to  endow 
it,  than  it  would  to  establish  all  that  we  need  in  the  foreign  field?  We 
set  up  an  ideal  of  half  a  million  dollars  or  more  as  indispensable  to  the 
adequate  equipment  and  endowment  of  a  single  institution  of  this  type 
at  home.  We  all  know  perfectly  well  that  that  amount  would  give  us 
practically  all  we  would  need  for  the  next  ten  or  twenty  years  for  all 
these  institutions  scattered  all  over  the  world.  Would  it  not,  therefore, 
be  more  economical  to  establish  them  there  than  here  ? 

Furthermore,  we  can  make  them  international  there  on  the  foreign 
field  as  well  as  interdenominational.  The  English  and  ourselves  are 
not  setting  up  two  different  schools  in  Northern  India.  We  all  unite 
in  one  in  Lucknow.  All  nationalities  can  be  brought  together  in  a  sin- 
gle school  on  a  mission  field,  whereas  at  home  there  will  have  to  be  one 
inside  of  each  nationality. 

In  the  second  place,  may  they  not,  in  some  regards  at  least,  be  more 
efficient  on  the  foreign  field  than  at  home  ?  The  consensus  of  opinion — 
I  do  not  say  in  all  regards ;  I  say  in  some — the  consensus  of  opinion  as 
brought  forth  in  the  report  was  to  the  effect  that,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  missionaries  themselves,  language  study,  the  mastery  of  the 
vernacular,  could  best  be  done  on  the  field.  Well,  there  are  other  things 
that  in  time  might  be  just  as  well  done  there.  Educational  methods  can 
be  studied  in  the  big  normal  schools  that  are  to  grow  up  in  connection 
with  Qiristian  universities  abroad.  It  will  not  be  long  before  we  have 
our  thoroughly  equipped  medical  schools  in  the  foreign  field,  in  which 
the  medical  missionary  can  get  a  more  specialized  equipment  for  the 
particular  field  in  which  he  is  going  to  work  than  he  could  get  even  in 
a  school  for  the  study  of  tropical  diseases  in  London  or  the  United 
States.  There  will  be  other  developments  of  this  kind  that  will  make 
possible  a  more  specialized  efficient  training  for  missionaries. 

And  in  the  matter  of  missionary  method  and  policy,  while  I  agree 
with  what  Dr.  Paul  has  said  as  to  the  work  that  should  be  done  here, 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  6.5 

how  much  better  can  tJiat  work  be  done  on  the  mission  field,  with  the 
whole  staff  of  successful  missionaries  operating  in  the  actual  conditions 
under  which  that  missionary  is  to  do  his  work,  to  be  drawn  upon  for 
the  teaching  staff  for  this  school  ? 

In  the  third  place,  in  some  regards  at  least,  it  will  be  more  prac- 
ticable. It  will  meet  the  matter  of  the  expense  of  the  support  of  the 
missionary  student.  Many  mission  boards  will  either  hesitate  or  be 
stopped  from  contributing  funds  for  the  support  of  students  studying 
in  schools  in  the  United  States  who  have  not  yet  gone  to  the  field. 
There  will  be  probably  no  objection  to  their  supporting  students  study- 
ing in  these  schools  on  the  field.  They  will  already  be  missionaries ; 
they  will  be  in  association  with  their  mission  and  participating  in  its 
councils.  The  objection  to  the  support  of  students  will  be  far  less  in 
these  schools  on  the  field  than  at  home. 

And  there  is  the  further  advantage  over  attempting  to  utilize,  as 
Dr.  Strong  has  suggested,  the  last  summer  vacations  of  missionaries 
before  they  go  to  the  field,  that  we  will  have  them  detached  from  all 
those  diverting  influences  that  are  inseparable  from  those  last  few 
months.  We  find  it  impossible  to  get  hold  of  our  missionaries  during 
those  months.  Their  last  visits  are  to  be  made.  If  they  are  mission- 
aries about  to  be  married,  the  trousseau  has  to  be  got  ready.  All  the 
home  questions  have  to  be  gone  over.  There  are  a  dozen  and  one 
diverting  things.  I  think  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  our  missionaries 
into  schools  for  the  last  few  months  of  their  stay  in  America  before 
they  go  out  to  the  foreign  field.  In  the  case  of  the  school  on  the  field 
the  rupture  has  been  made ;  they  have  broken  from  all  diverting  and 
harassing  home  responsibilities,  and  can  fix  their  attention  absolutely 
upon  the  work  which  they  are  called  upon  to  do  in  the  training  school. 

In  the  fourth  place,  it  will  be  far  securer.  We  all  know  how  diffi- 
cult it  is  to  carry  even  our  appointed  missionaries  right  through  to  the 
field.  They  are  detained  sometimes  even  after  the  outfits  have  been 
bought  or  the  tickets  have  been  purchased  for  the  field.  Now,  if  we  go 
further  back  than  that  and  try  to  commit  ourselves  a  year  in  advance  to 
them  in  the  responsible  ways  in  which  we  do  by  vmdertaking  their  sup- 
port in  these  schools,  we  will  lose  a  great  many  of  them  during  the 
last  year  of  their  study  here  and  also  the  money  expended  on  them. 
We  have  them  once  they  have  got  out  on  the  field  during  that  year  of 
special  .study.  It  is  always  a  discouraging  time  before  the  missionary 
has  his  own  work  and  all  the  spontaneous  drawings  which  compass  the 
responsibilities  of  doing  that  work.  It  is  a  difficult  time.  We  will 
have  them  there  on  the  field  in  relationships  of  encouragement  and  good- 
will, where  older  missionaries  will  be  with  them,  where  there  will  be 
the  good  spirit  of  a  number  of  them  starting  in  together.  I  think  we 
are  far  more  likely  to  keep  those  who  are  training  for  the  work. 

Maybe  I  am  speaking  too  strongly,  but  I  only  want  to  bring  out 
the  considerations  on  the  opposite  side  from  that  on  which  Prof.  Paul 
was  speaking,  although  I  accept  both  sides,  as  I  said. 

In  the  fifth  place — and  this  is  a  very  great  consideration,  as  it  seems 
to  m'C — these  schools  on  the  field  ultimately,  if  our  ideal  is  accom- 
plished, will  result  in  one  school,  we  will  say,  for  Northern  India,  one 
for  Southern  India,  one  for  Japan,  maybe  one  or  two  for  the  Chinese 
Empire,  one  for  the  Mohammedan  world.  Now  think  of  the  immense 
influence  of  bringing  together  in  those  schools  all  the  new  missionaries, 
all  the  nationalities  operating  in  those  fields,  and  all  of  the  different 
denominations  operating  in  those  fields.  It  will  be  one  of  the  most 
powerful  agencies  in  behalf  of  co-operative  missionary  work  that  could 


66  COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION. 

possibly  be  brought  to  bear.  Here  at  home  at  the  best  we  will  only 
bring  together  in  our  schools  a  few  representatives  of  different  denomi- 
nations. There,  if  the  idea  can  be  carried  out,  we  will  have  together  in 
tlie  most  plastic  years,  when  they  will  make  friendships  and  acquaint- 
ances and  break  down  the  barriers  of  unacquaintance  and  unfamiliarity 
and  distrust,  all  the  missionaries  who  are  going  to  carry  in  their  day  the 
responsibility  of  that  field  together.  It  seems  to  me  a  great  advantage 
in  behalf  of  schools  upon  the  field  that  it  will  thus  promote  a  spirit  of 
acquaintanceship,  of  co-operative  effort,  and  of  mutual  understanding 
and  acquaintance  among  all  the  missionaries  who  operate  in  any  par- 
ticular field. 

Now  those  are  the  considerations,  or  some  of  them,  in  behalf  of  these 
special  schools  on  the  foreign  field. 

Prof.  Edward  W.  Capen:  After  what  Dr.  Paul  and  Dr.  Speer 
have  said,  it  is  almost  needless  for  me  to  add  very  much  more,  and  I 
will  take  but  a  few  moments. 

There  are  some  parts  of  the  foreign  field  where  the  alternative 
in  the  minds  of  missionaries  seems  to  be  between  having  all  the  special 
preparation  given  at  home  or  all  on  the  field ;  and  the  point  is,  as  has 
already  been  said,  that  we  need  both.  Where  shall  we  draw  the  line? 
It  seems  to  me  that  those  general  subjects  that  apply  to  all  fields,  and 
certain  fundamental  courses  for  the  particular  field,  can  best  be  studied 
at  home.  This  will  lay  the  foundation  for  the  more  particular  prepara- 
tion in  language,  the  customs  of  the  people  and  all  such  matters,  that 
will  be  carried  on  after  the  appointee  has  reached  the  field.  Let  me 
mention  a  few  considerations  in  favor  of  this  view. 

In  the  first  place,  we  should  note  the  matter  of  economy.  I  am  not 
now  speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  long  look  ahead,  when  it 
might  be  possible  for  us  to  get  a  large  amount  of  endowment  for 
schools  on  the  foreign  field,  but  from  the  point  of  view  of  mission 
boards  at  the  present  time.  If  the  large  bulk  of  special  missionary 
preparation  is  done  on  the  field  it  means  that  mission  boards  will  send 
out  appointees  and  pay  them  full  salaries  during  several  months  or 
even  one  or  two  years.  Experience  indicates  that  one  year's  salary  of 
a  missionary  put  into  scholarships  will  support  from  two  to  three  can- 
didates for  a  full  year's  work  at  home.  Moreover,  so  far  as  the  in- 
struction at  home  is  concerned,  the  mission  boards  are  at  no  expense 
for  providing  teachers,  whereas  if  these  schools  on  the  foreign  field 
are  to  be  a  success  the  mission  boards  must  allocate  to  that  work  the 
entire  time  of  missionary  teachers,  or  it  will  not  be  done  with  efficiency. 

Secondly,  take  the  matter  of  time.  Not  only  will  it  be  difficult 
for  the  appointee,  if  all  this  special  preparation  or  a  large  portion  of 
it  is  given  on  the  field,  to  be  content  to  keep  out  of  work  for  the  time 
required,  but  in  a  large  proportion  of  the  mission  fields,  where  the 
conditions  of  life  are  strange  and  the  climatic  conditions  are  unfavor- 
able to  the  hard,  consecutive  work  possible  in  colder  climates,  the  new 
appointee  will  be  unable  to  cover  as  much  ground,  say  in  a  year,  along 
these  general  lines  as  would  be  possible  at  home. 

Then  take  the  matter  of  health.  I  was  discussing  the  other  day 
with  the  secretary  of  one  of  our  boards  the  advisability  of  laying  at 
home  the  foundation  for  language  work.  He  was  forced  home  from 
the  field  because  of  the  complete  breakdown  of  his  wife  and  the  im- 
pairment of  his  own  health.  He  declared  that  he  was  very  certain 
that  if  he  had  received  at  home  instruction  in  phonetics,  philology  and 
methods  of  language  study  he  would  not  have  had  his  health  impaired, 
his  wife  might  not  have  broken  down  and  they  might  still  be  on  the 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  67 

foreign  field.  Especially  to  women,  the  transfer  from  the  familiar 
conditions  of  home  to  the  very  strange  and  unusual  conditions  of  the 
foreign  field  causes  great  nervous  and  physical  strain ;  and  if  by  certain 
preparation  before  going  out  the  strain  of  language  work  can  be 
lessened,  it  would  be  to  the  interests  of  the  health  and  strength  of  the 
missionaries. 

And  then,  again,  in  many  of  these  subjects  it  is,  for  the  present 
at  least,  in  the  interests  of  efficiency  to  have  this  work  done  at  home. 
With  our  greater  library  facilities  and  with  our  trained  teachers  we  can 
give  better  courses  in  those  subjects  of  which  Dr.  Paul  has  been  speak- 
ing than  are  yet  possible  upon  the  mission  field.  Experience  seems  to 
indicate  that  efficient  educational  work  cannot  be  done  by  those  who 
mererly  come  in  from  outside  for  a  portion  of  the  year  or  by  those  to 
whom  teaching  is  not  their  chief  task.  The  teaching  must  be  done 
by  those  who  are  devoting  themselves  absolutely  to  that  work.  This 
means  either  that  we  must  send  out  to  the  foreign  field  persons  to  teach 
in  training  schools  these  more  general  subjects,  or  else  that  useful  mis- 
sionaries must  be  taken  out  of  the  work  that  is  so  far  beyond  the  power 
of  the  missionary  force  to  compass,  in  order  to  devote  their  time  to 
this  teaching. 

It  seems  to  me  also  that  along  the  lines  of  what  President  King 
said  this  morning  it  is  wise  for  us  to  lay  at  home  the  foundations  even 
for  the  understanding  of  the  peoples  to  whom  the  missionaries  are 
going.  We  shall  have  to  provide  those  facilities  at  home,  anyway,  be- 
cause the  missionaries  when  at  home  feel  the  absolute  need  of  tak- 
ing some  of  their  furlough  time  for  the  further  study,  for  which 
they  have  neither  time  nor  strength  when  on  the  field.  Hence,  there 
would  be  a  call  in  the  interests  of  efficiency  for  the  provision  of 
such  courses  for  missionaries  at  home  on  furlough;  and  if  we  have 
these  facilities  for  missionaries  they  can  without  practically  any  addi- 
tional expense,  except  for  mere  living  expenses  during  the  course  of 
study,  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  appointees  or  approved  candidates. 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  are  still  in  the  realm  of  experiment  as  to 
the  correlation  of  preparation  at  home  to  preparation  on  the  field.  Un- 
doubtedly some  subjects  may  best  be  studied  at  home  and  some  on  the 
field,  and  the  decision  regarding  those  subjects  that  might  be  indorsed 
in  either  group  should  depend  on  the  result  of  the  experiments  now  in 
progress  at  home  and  abroad. 

Dr.  F.  P.  Haggard:  I  think  I  can  fairly  assume  that  yve  all 
agree  that  some  special  missionary  training  is  demanded.  I  think,  how- 
ever that  we  need  to  distinguish  clearly  between  the  various  forms  of 
such  training.  As  I  have  listened  to  the  discussion  to-day  it  has  seemed 
to  me  that  we  are  not  clear  in  our  own  minds ;  in  fact,  I  have  found  my- 
self rather  confused  regarding  the  difference  between  the  instruction 
we  propose  shall  be  given  under  revised  courses  in  colleges  and  semi- 
naries, so  that  any  student  can  take  these  courses  with  profit  whether 
he  go  to  the  field  or  not,  and  the  additional  instruction  which  we  desire 
to  give  to  those  who  actually  go.  I  think  we  ought  to  maintain  this 
clear  distinction. 

Now,  as  I  understand,  it  is  proposed  that  we  shall,  in  the  first 
place,  extend  and  enlarge  the  courses  already  in  existence  and  revise 
them,  and  that  we  shall  then  add  to  whatever  courses  applicants  have 
pursued  prior  to  coming  to  us  certain  special  instruction  with  reference 
to  the  particular  work  which  they  are  to  do  abroad. 

Let  us  note,  in  the  first  place,  that  this  special  additional  work, 
to  which  I  think  we  may  devote  most  of  our  thought,  is  post-graduate 


68  COMMITTEE   IL— DISCUSSION. 

in  character;  and,  again,  that  much  post-graduate  work  is  now  being 
done  by  our  missionaries.  All  medical  work  is  post-graduate  in  the 
general  acceptation  of  that  term.  Theological  work  is  post-graduate 
in  character.  Then  many  of  our  missionaries  are  taking  post-graduate 
work  along  pedagogical  and  other  lines.  They  are  taking  these  special 
and  additional  courses  after  their  own  fashion,  according  to  their  own 
ideas,  without  very  much  direction. 

The  question  is  how  shall  the  post-graduate  and  special  instruc- 
tion of  missionaries  and  missionary  appointees  be  financed?  Before 
we  answer  that  we  may  inquire  how  students  and  missionaries  have 
provided  for  their  training  up  to  the  time  they  began  their  medical  or 
theological  courses  and  also  their  post-graduate  course  which  they  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  pursuing  under  the  old  regime.  Many  have 
financed  these  personally.  They  were  able,  either  in  their  owm  name 
or  because  of  the  ability  of  their  parents  or  friends,  to  care  for  all  their 
expenses  to  the  end.  Some  have  been  compelled  to  depend  upon 
scholarships  or  upon  associations  which  have  for  their  object  the  as- 
sistance of  students  in  theological  seminaries.  To  a  limited  degree  the 
Boards  have  helped  students.  I  say  to  a  limited  degree.  I  put  that 
down  on  paper  some  days  ago,  before  I  had  reviewed  the  situation  as 
fully  as  I  have  since,  and  I  have  been  quite  surprised  to  discover  the 
extent  to  which  Boards  have  assisted  students  in  these  respects. 

It  is  not  uncommon  for  boards  to  provide  for  men  to  take  a  course 
in  tropical  medicine  in  England  or  to  tarry  in  France,  in  Belgium,  in 
Spain  or  in  Portugal,  to  pursue  language  study  and  to  become  better 
acquainted  with  the  peoples  who  are  in  charge  of  or  who  have  political 
jurisdiction  over  the  countries  to  which  they  are  going.  I  know  of 
one  board  that  paid  the  expenses  of  an  appointee  while  taking  a  short 
course  in  the  consular  school  at  Washington, 

Then  a  number  of  the  larger  boards  have  been  conducting  confer- 
ences with  their  outgoing  missionaries  in  the  Fall  or  the  Spring,  as  the 
case  may  be.  This  has  involved  considerable  expense.  These  confer- 
ences are,  in  embryo,  the  thing  we  are  talking  about.  For  two  years 
our  own  Board  has  utilized  Dr.  Cummings  and  his  instructions  in 
phonetics,  and  we  are  proposing  to  make  further  tests,  although  some 
of  us  are  satisfied  with  what  has  been  accomplished  up  to  the  present 
time.  The  missionaries  who  took  the  course  last  year  are  enthu- 
siastic over  it  and  are  confident  they  will  be  able  to  save  considerable 
time.  The  women  have,  I  think,  in  most  denominations,  special  schools 
for  training  their  workers.  We  really  have  adopted  the  principle  of 
providing  special  instruction  when  we  go  so  far  as  we  are  going. 

Assuming  the  importance  and  need  for  post-graduate  or  special 
additional  instructions,  how  is  it  to  be  provided?  The  Boards  are  not 
prepared  on  their  present  budgets  to  finance  more  than  is  now  being 
provided  for.  The  funds  necessary  for  this  work  must  be  in  addition 
to  what  we  now  have  in  hand.  The  questions  raised  are.  Shall  the 
Boards  raise  these  funds,  or  shall  others  raise  them  and  vest  them  with 
the  Boards?  Shall  they  be  vested  in  existing  educational  institutions 
or  denominational  associations  that  assist  students  for  the  ministry 
and  for  missionary  work,  or  shall  they  be  vested  in  new  educational 
institutions  and  new  associations  ?  From  one  point  of  view  it  may  be 
as  broad  as  it  is  long. 

I  have  been  very  much  interested  in  this  discussion,  as  doubtless 
you  have,  to  observe  that  each  of  the  participants  has  seemed  to  advo- 
cate the  thing  for  which  he  particularly  stands.  The  Board  secretary 
rather  instinctively  rebels  against  the  thought  of  additional  expense, 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  69 

and  wonders  if  this  work  cannot  be  done  at  less  expense  on  the  field ; 
our  educational  men  are  quite  inclined  to  believe  that  it  should  not  be  left 
in  the  hands  of  our  existing  educational  institutions  at  home,  while  the 
men  who  represent  special  training  schools  seem  to  advocate  the  train- 
ing provided  in  those  institutions.  I  think  this  is  natural,  however;  and 
it  is  very  well  that  we  have  had  these  phases  of  the  discussion  pre- 
sented. 

For  the  Boards  to  undertake  this  expense  would  involve  a  radical 
departure  from  their  present  methods  and  customs,  and  I  say  this  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  we  are  able  to  point  out  the  rather  large 
amount  of  work  they  are  now  doing  along  this  line.  We  have  in 
reality  reached  the  point  where  we  should  review  the  whole  situation 
and  see  whether,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Boards  are  not  now  putting  too 
much  money  into  this  type  of  work ;  or  whether,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
ought  not  to  put  even  more  into  it.  In  the  case  of  some  of  the  large 
Boards  it  would  involve  almost  a  new  department,  meaning,  say,  $500 
per  missionary  for  an  extra  year  of  training.  If  our  Board,  for  ex- 
ample, had  to  provide  that,  it  would  involve  $8,000  or  $10,000.  That 
may  be  a  high  average,  since  a  number  of  the  men  would  not  require 
anything  from  the  Board  or  institution ;  they  would  be  able  to  care  for 
themselves. 

Second,  it  would  involve  the  Boards  in  some  embarrassment.  Mr. 
Speer  has  spoken  of  that.  After  you  have  invested  in  a  man  an 
amount  of  money  sufficient  to  carry  him  through  a  year's  course  of 
special  training,  some  embarrassment  will  rest  upon  the  Board  or  upon 
the  candidate,  or  both,  if  he  does  not  actually  go  to  the  field.  It  is  not 
true  in  the  case  of  the  minister,  even  though  he  may  not  ultimately 
enter  the  ministry,  because  the  probabilities  are  that  he  has  made  some 
special  arrangement  with  the  theological  seminary  for  the  return  of 
the  money  that  was  invested  in  him. 

Third,  it  is  logical  that  the  Boards  should  have  some  definite  rela- 
tion to  this  problem ;  that  they  should  no  longer  permit  missionaries  to 
go  out  without  definite  instruction  along  special  lines  and  without  in- 
struction acording  to  courses  with  the  making  up  of  which  the  Boards 
have  had  something  to  do.  It  is  anomalous  that  we  should  have  a 
situation  such  as  Dr.  Barton  described  this  morning  in  his  own  case 
and  in  the  case  of  almost  all  missionaries  who  went  out  a  few  years 
since.  If  the  Boards  are  to  have  a  voice  in  shaping  plans  for  this  work 
it  follows  that  they  should  at  least  share  in  the  expense. 

In  the  next  place,  if  the  Boards  are  in  part  to  finance  this  special 
training,  they  will  have  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  control  some- 
what the  character  of  the  training.  On  the  other  hand,  that  control 
might  narrow  the  scope  of  our  plans  and  would  probably  tend  to  the 
development  of  denominational  schools,  thus  preventing  the  building  up 
of  interdenominational  institutions  on  a  broad  basis  and,  necessarily, 
with  better  equipment  and  higher  standing. 

Finally,  to  summarize  what  has  been  said  and  to  make  some  con- 
crete suggestions :  First,  this  Board  of  Preparation  may  well  address  it- 
self to  the  standardization  of  the  course  provided  for  students  in  their 
earlier  years  and  help  colleges  and  seminaries  to  so  revise  their  curri- 
cula that  men  will  be  in  line  for  missionary  work,  though  they  may  not 
actually  enter  it. 

Second,  seek  to  develop  a  few  schools  abroad.  Between  the  two 
sides  of  the  problem  just  discussed  I  am  inclined  to  lean  toward  the 
view  held  by  Mr.  Speer.  I  believe  that  we  should  lay  stress  upon 
schools  on  the  foreign  field.    Dr.  Capen  is  right  when  he  says  that  we 


70  COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION. 

must  have  schools  both  here  and  there ;  but  I  believe  we  should  empha- 
size the  schools  abroad. 

Third,  that  this  Board  shall,  in  seeking  to  develop,  seek  also  to 
finance  these  enterprises,  to  secure  such  a  degree  of  support  as  to  re- 
duce the  cost  to  the  mission  boards.  That  is,  the  amount  of  money  that 
the  boards  may  have  to  invest  shall  be  reduced  to  the  minimum, 
whether  the  schools  are  conducted  here  or  abroad. 

Fourth,  the  boards  should  meet  this  minimum  cost  when  neces- 
sary. On  the  other  hand,  I  do  not  believe  they  should  undertake 
wholesale  to  train  men  for  missionary  work,  beginning  perhaps  in  the 
earlier  years  of  their  theological  course.  They  should  not  do  what 
some  of  the  English  and  Continental  boards  are  now  doing,  and  as  the 
result  of  which,  in  the  case  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  we  read 
in  their  last  annual  report:  "Another  step  adopted  by  the  commit- 
tee at  their  meeting  on  October  27,  191 1,  in  the  interest  of  economy 
was  the  discontinuance  as  far  as  practicable  of  the  further  training  of 
candidates  as  distinguished  from  accepted  missoinaries ;  but  in  De- 
cember the  Candidates  Committee  were  instructed  to  recommence  the 
acceptance  of  young  men  for  preparatory  training  and  to  take  measures 
for  their  training  to  begin  in  the  following  May.  It  has  also  been 
decided  that  the  burden  on  the  Society's  general  funds  for  the  financial 
support  of  men  during  their  training  must  be  lessened  and  more  self- 
support  called  out  from  the  candidates  themselves  and  their  friends. 
While  men  will  thus  be  thrown  on  their  own  resources,  some  help  will 
be  available,  and  no  one,  therefore,  need  be  discouraged  from  at  least 
offering  himself  by  the  mere  fact  that  he  does  not  see  clearly  how  to 
provide  for  his  support  during  training." 

Dr.  T.  H.  P.  Sailer:  A  number  of  missionaries  have  spoken  to 
me  of  the  great  advantage  of  further  study  after  a  man  has  had  a  short 
term  on  the  field.  Before  one  goes  out  he  has  only  general  ideas  of 
what  he  will  need.  After  he  is  settled  on  the  field,  has  a  grip  on  the 
language  and  an  acquaintance  with  the  particular  needs  of  the  work, 
he  can  come  home  and  make  his  preparation  to  very  much  better  ad- 
vantage. I  believe,  therefore,  that  there  ought  to  be  some  special  pro- 
vision made  for  men  on  their  furloughs.  Missionaries  have  written 
to  me  from  time  to  time,  saying  that  they  would  like  to  do  certain  work, 
but  feared  very  greatly  that  their  financial  resources  would  not  be  suffi- 
cient. It  seems  to  me  that  in  many  cases  special  provision  might  be 
made  for  missionaries  to  have  their  first  term  shortened  so  that  they 
might  have  a  term  of,  say,  three  to  five  years  on  the  field  and  then 
come  home  to  complete  their  preparation  for  certain  lines  of  work 
which  demand  specialization. 

President  W.  W.  White :  Two  thoughts.  First,  referring  to  Dr. 
Strong's  remarks  about  extra  time  required  for  preparation,  may  I 
repeat  a  remark  which  I  heard  a  professor  of  theology  make  a  day  or 
two  ago  when  we  were  talking  over  the  problems  of  theological  educa- 
tion ?  He  said :  "The  seminaries  catch  the  men  too  late."  The  whole 
question  of  the  earlier  education  of  our  candidates  for  Christian  work 
is  hereby  raised.  It  enters  vitally  into  our  problem.  I  believe  that  a 
practical  revolution  is  needed  in  undergraduate  studies. 

My  second  remark  is  about  language  study.  On  the  three  trips 
to  the  Far  East  during  the  past  three  summers  in  Japan,  Korea  and 
China  I  have  had  opportunity  to  note  the  large  interest  which  mission- 
aries have  in  this  matter.  Next  to  interest  in  the  study  of  the  Bible  at 
the  various  conferences  which  we  had  the  privilege  of  conducting,  at- 
tention was  given  by  the  missionaries  in  their  conferences  to  the  ques- 


COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION.  71 

tion  of  language  study.  I  wish  you  could  have  heard  some  of  the  state- 
ments made  by  missionaries  in  those  conferences.  Almost  universally 
the  desire  on  the  part  of  missionaries,  so  far  as  I  have  come  in  con- 
tact with  them,  is  that  they  should  have  language  schools  in  the  coun- 
tries to  which  they  go.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  how 
extensive  should  be  preparation  in  the  line  of  acquiring  a  language  be- 
fore going  to  the  field,  but  all  are  agreed  that  there  should  be  language 
schools  for  special  study  after  reaching  the  field. 

There  was  general  agreement  also  on  another  point,  that,  while 
chief  attention  should  be  given  to  the  study  of  the  language  in  such 
schools,  there  should  be  more  or  less  of  collateral  study,  particularly 
the  study  of  the  Bible  for  spiritual  nourishment  and  growth.  I  do  not 
think  there  is  a  general  disposition  among  missionaries  to  introduce 
much  more  than  this  in  addition  to  their  study  of  the  language.  The 
preparation  in  Pedagogy,  Sociology,  Psychology,  etc.,  which  the  mis- 
sionary should  have  is  not  likely  to  be  called  for  in  schools  on  the  field. 
They  must  be  secured  before  leaving  the  home  land.  It  should  be 
observed  that  the  schools  which  have  been  organized  on  the  foreign 
field  are  practically  all  organized  for  the  study  of  language  and  not  for 
the  study  of  other  subjects. 

May  I  add  that  the  general  impression  among  missionaries  is  that 
fundamental  training  in  phonetics  and  in  method  of  acquiring  a  lan- 
guage may  better  be  secured  in  the  home  land,  and  that  in  some  in- 
stances a  start  in  a  language  may  be  secured  at  home  ?  But,  as  a  rule,  it 
is  better  to  study  the  vernacular  in  the  field  itself. 

Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson :  The  first  remark  I  would  like  to  make 
is  with  reference  to  language  study.  There  are  those  who  believe  that 
all  language  study  should  be  on  the  field,  and  there  are  those  who  be- 
lieve that  language  study  should  be  begun  in  the  home  land.  But  there 
is  another  group,  of  those  who  draw  a  very  sharp  line  between  phonetic 
study  at  home  and  language  study  on  the  field,  and  I  think  it  is  only 
fair  that  we  lay  some  emphasis  on  that  distinction  and  not  deal  solely 
in  terms  of  language  study  as  a  unit. 

Then,  in  the  second  place,  I  would  like  to  emphasize  what  Dr. 
Sailer  has  referred  to.  The  dominant  impression  I  have  obtained  this 
afternoon  is  that  the  supreme  opportunity,  after  all,  when  you  consider 
the  practical  difficulties  of  the  case,  the  supreme  opportunity  for  special 
study  is  during  the  year  of  furlough.  In  addition  to  reasons  given 
by  Dr.  Sailer,  I  would  add  this  reason :  It  is  not  merely  that  the  mis- 
sionary does  not  know  his  own  special  gifts  when  he  first  goes  out,  but 
the  mission  itself  has  not  yet  determined  the  kind  of  work  into  which 
they  will  put  him.  Probably  the  first  term  of  service  will  decide  that. 
He  has  "found  himself,"  the  mission  has  "found  him,"  and  he  comes 
back  knowing  what  kind  of  special  training  he  should  have.  That 
places  a  decided  advantage  on  the  side  of  training  during  the  furlough. 
Now,  this  year,  our  own  Board  is  experimenting  with  that  matter,  and 
we  have  made  a  small  grant  of  $140  for  each  married  missionary  to 
enable  him  to  take  at  least  a  brief  course.  Our  missionaries  are  expe- 
rimenting with  this  matter.  They  are  taking  all  sorts  of  special  train- 
ing, but  they  are  getting  something,  and  we  are  watching  very  care- 
fully the  results  of  that  training.  But  the  more  we  have  thought  of  it, 
the  more  we  are  amazed  that  in  past  years  we  have  been  willing  to 
spend  $1,700  and  more  on  a  missionary  in  connection  with  his  furlough 
in  America  and  then  allow  him  to  more  or  less  stagnate  without  doing 
anything  for  his  mental  quickening  during  the  year.  We  spend  $700 
to  bring  him  home  and  to  send  him  back  to  the  field,  a  thousand  dollars 


72  COMMITTEE   II.— DISCUSSION. 

for  his  salary  on  furlough,  and  all  this  presumably  just  for  physical 
refreshment,  when  every  man  needs  intellectual  stimulus  for  which 
there  was  no  provision,  and  he  also  needs  spiritual  refreshment,  and  I 
do  not  know  that  we  have  made  adequate  provision  for  that,  either. 

President  H.  C.  King:  I  would  like  to  say  just  a  single  word  in 
emphasizing  that  point.  There  are  few  things  that  impressed  me  more 
in  my  time  abroad  than  the  need  there  is  to  have  the  missionaries  get 
the  value  that  could  be  gotten  from  their  furlough.  It  is  taken  for 
granted  that  a  medical  missionary  returning  will  wish  to  get  up  to  date. 
It  is  not  supposed  that  any  other  missionary  has  any  occasion  to  get  up 
to  date  apparently,  and  he  is  employed  most  of  the  time  canvassing  for 
the  Board.  I  appreciate  the  feeling  that  the  officers  must  have,  but  I  am 
very  sure  that  the  need  is  tremendous  for  those  other  missionaries  to 
get  the  opportunity  for  some  further  study  and  stimulus  in  the  year 
that  they  are  home. 

I  want  to  add  just  this  other  single  remark.  I  think  we  ought  not 
to  forget  in  this  whole  question  of  special  courses  that  the  educational 
trend  of  these  recent  years  has  been  pretty  certainly  away  from  isolated 
schools  for  anything,  and  that,  in  general,  we  are  not  going  to  find  that 
is  the  best  solution  in  the  matter  of  missionary  preparation.  As  far  as 
possible  the  schools  should  be  associated  with  a  college  or  university, 
or  else  the  isolated  school  made  into  a  university  in  embryo  in  itself. 

Rev.  James  L.  Barton:  I  doubt  if  anyone  present  to-day  thinks 
that  the  missionary  societies  will  ask  all  missionary  candidates,  or  any 
large  proportion  of  them,  for  years  to  come  at  least,  to  take  an  added 
year  of  preparation.  But  I  think  we  are  all  frequently  asking  men  to 
wait  for  a  few  months  and  take  special  courses  under  the  direction  of 
the  Board  to  fit  them  for  the  point  and  work  to  which  we  wish  to  send 
them.  We  have  several  now,  three  or  four,  whom  we  are  detaining 
for  special  work.  But  we  do  not  put  them  on  a  salary.  I  think  $500 
would  be  too  large  an  amount  to  think  of  for  that.  These  go  on  with 
their  course  in  the  regular  way.  We  have  simply  said,  If  you  go  out, 
you  must  take  certain  added  work,  and  they  have  taken  it.  We  have, 
however,  since  this  report  was  written,  set  aside  $1,000  as  scholarships, 
to  be  used  not  only  for  newly-appointed  candidates  whom  we  may  ask 
to  wait  to  take  further  preparation,  but  also  for  missionaries  at  home 
on  furlough  who  wish  to  pursue  further  study.  That  scholarship  fund 
is  for  one  year,  and  is  set  aside  to  be  drawn  upon  from  time  to  time. 

Our  Board  has  given  more  attention  during  the  last  few  years  to 
special  studies  for  returned  missionaries  than  to  added  studies  for 
newly  appointed  candidates,  and  we  have  looked  with  very  great  sym- 
pathy upon  the  desire  of  returned  teaching,  clerical  and  medical  mis- 
sionaries for  further  study.  Many  facilities  have  been  opened  to  these, 
and  many  of  the  universities  of  this  country  are  offering  scholarships 
to  missionaries,  if  properly  applied  for.  That  is  one  of  the  points  to 
which  this  Board  of  Preparation  ought  to  turn  its  attention — namely, 
the  discovery  of  places  where  missionaries  can  receive  graduate  scholar- 
ships and  fellowships,  and  to  learn  what  courses  are  offered  in  the  vari- 
ous institutions,  that  it  may  lay  these  facts  before  the  various  boards. 

Just  one  thing  more  in  regard  to  the  support  of  missionary  schools. 
I  do  not  think  anyone  would  recommend  that  the  boards  support  in 
this  country,  schools  for  the  equipment  of  missionaries.  It  is  simply 
a  question  of  possible  scholarship  in  aid. 

Dr.  F.  P.  Haggard:  I  agree  heartily  with  all  that  has  been  said 
about  the  missionaries  taking  these  courses  while  at  home  on  furlough, 
and  we  are  advising  young  men  to  go  out  with  the  thought  of  doing 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  73 

some  sepcial  work  on  their  return,  possibly  shortening  their  first  period 
of  service.  I  think  our  experience  is  the  same  as  yours — that  there  is 
a  rapidly  increasing  number  of  men  who  are  doing  this.  But  the  other 
side  of  this  question  should  be  brought  out — namely,  that  we  are  de- 
priving ourselves  of  the  use  of  such  missionaries  while  they  are  at 
home.  I  do  not  speak  from  the  point  of  view  of  raising  money.  If 
that  were  all  that  is  involved  it  would  not  matter  much.  It  is  not  the 
primary  work  of  missionaries  to  raise  money.  But  the  churches  need 
the  contact  with  those  men  from  the  field,  and  those  who  are  most  likely 
to  need  or  want  special  instruction  during  their  furlough  are  the  very 
ones  who  may  be  best  suited  to  go  before  the  churches  and  make  the 
right  impression. 

Chairman  Mackenzie :  I  think  this  has  been  one  of  the  most  use- 
ful and  illuminating  discussions  that  I  have  ever  heard  on  this  particu- 
lar phase  of  our  whole  subject.  One  has  sat  here  and  been  amazed 
at  the  fresh  contribution  that  seemed  to  be  possible  from  each  speaker 
in  turn,  so  that  we  have  got  together  a  large  amount  of  very  valuable 
material  over  which  to  think. 

I  was  very  much  impressed  indeed  with  Dr.  Speer's  development 
of  the  value  and  the  necessity  of  the  schools  on  the  field.  I  believe 
profoundly  in  that  necessity.  I  think  there  is  a  still  greater  advantage 
than  those  that  he  named  which  grows  out  of  them.  These  schools 
on  the  field  will  become  centers  of  scholarship  and  of  educational  in- 
fluence and  great  centers  of  power  in  the  generations  to  come.  If  they 
are  well  founded  and  well  guided,  they  will  help  to  raise  the  whole 
ideal  of  educational  efficiency  throughout  the  region  which  they  affect 
among  the  missionaries.  But  they  will  compel  a  more  rapid  develop- 
ment of  the  higher  standards  of  efficiency  among  the  natives.  They 
will  react  upon  the  ideas,  which  are  too  lax  and  too  poor  at  present  in 
most  fields,  cherished  by  the  missionaries  regarding  the  amount  of 
training  that  can  be  given,  or  ought  to  be  given,  to  native  pastors.  It 
is  an  astounding  fact  that  in  India,  for  instance,  they  have  only  begun 
to  establish  a  really  competent  theological  seminary  for  native  preach- 
ers after  a  hundred  years  of  missionary  work  there.  The  thing  is 
almost  incredible.  But  they  have  got  to  it  at  last.  Now,  that  move- 
ment will  be  immensely  stimulating,  and  if,  as  at  Bangalore,  most  for- 
tunately, such  a  school  for  training  the  European  and  American  mis- 
sionaries could  be  put  in  the  same  place  and  side  by  side  with  a  really 
good  school  for  training  the  native  pastors,  you  can  see  how  the  one 
will  interact  with  the  other,  how  mutual  benefits  can  be  derived  from 
their  co-operation,  and  how  the  establishment  of  the  school  for  the 
Occidentals  will  become  a  very  powerful  influence  indeed  for  the 
scholarly  and  theological  ideals  of  the  native  ministry  in  that  region. 
And  that  applies  to  China,  to  North  India,  to  Japan,  to  every  region 
where  our  Boards  can  undertake  the  establishment  of  such  a  school. 

But,  now.  Dr.  Speer  said  that  it  would  be  more  economical  than  the 
work  at  home.  I  doubt  that.  He  knows  more  about  finances  in  the 
East  than  I  do,  and  about  the  necessary  expenditure.  But  it  depends 
upon  what  you  mean  by  such  schools.  If  by  such  schools  you  mean 
men  set  apart,  as  Dr.  Capen  pointed  out,  to  do  the  work,  to  give,  not 
their  holidays,  not  their  occasional  hours,  not  making  it  the  by-product 
of  their  central  labors,  but  their  whole  time  to  this  as  their  service  of 
the  whole  missionary  cause,  then  the  expense  is  going  to  be  very  con- 
siderable in  the  end ;  and  that  in  two  ways.  You  are  going  to  have 
expense  in  the  equipment  and  selection  of  these  men,  and  expense  in 
the  maintenance  for  longer  periods  of  your  students  there.  You  cannot 


74  COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION. 

awaken  an  educational  appetite  that  does  not  tend  to  become  more 
and  more  voracious  until  some  extreme  has  been  reached;  and  if  you 
awaken  that  appetite  for  thorough  intellectual  training  among  the  mis- 
sionaries on  the  field,  and  you  offer  to  provide  for  it,  you  will  have  to 
give  more  and  more  until  you  have  given  a  great  deal  more  than  we 
think  of  today.  And  that  means  not  only  expenditure  of  money 
directly,  but,  observe,  you  are  going  to  pay  the  salaries  of  men  who  are 
set  apart  for  that  work;  and  although  no  one  Board  is  going  to  bear 
the  whole  burden — I  can  understand  that  you  will  have  to  divide  that 
up  among  the  Boards — yet  you  will  have  the  withdrawal  of  those  men 
from  active  missionary  labor.  If  their  central  and  fundamental  work 
is  to  be  educational  amongst  Occidentals,  then  the  missionary  work  is 
going  to  be  the  by-product  and  the  occasional  industry  in  which  they 
engage. 

Now,  on  the  whole  matter  I  feel  that,  valuable  as  the  discussion 
has  been,  because  of  the  immense  variety  of  practical  experience  rep- 
resented in  this  little  group,  yet  we  are  hampered  by  the  fact  that  we  are 
talking  a  little  in  the  air.  We  have  not  yet  got  enough  experience  to 
form  sound  conclusions  on  any  of  these  matters  in  detail.  I  do  not 
feel  that  I  have,  although  I  have  been  working  at  it  personally  for  some 
years  and  investigating  as  far  as  I  could.  If  you  should  ask  me, 
"Should  we  have  schools  on  the  field  or  at  home?  What  should  we 
teach  on  the  field,  and  what  should  we  teach  at  home?  How  much  time 
should  we  devote  respectively  to  the  one  or  to  the  other?  What  ex- 
penditures would  be  justified  for  the  one  form  as  compared  with  the 
other?"  I  could  not  answer  any  one  of  those  questions,  except  the  first 
of  all,  which  I  would  answer  in  the  way  we  have  all  answered  it — we 
must  have  schools  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

There  is  one  point,  however,  that  has  not  been  brought  out,  which 
seems  to  me  extremely  important,  with  reference  to  the  establishment 
of  such  schools  at  home.  It  goes  down  to  what  I  may  call  educational 
theory.  It  goes  down  to  this  question :  Does  a  young  man  more 
quickly  acquire  knowledge  in  all  the  various  subjects  that  open  to  him 
if  he  is  plunged  into  the  field  without  scientific  preparation,  or  is  there 
a  form  of  preparation  that  can  be  given  to  him  by  one  solid  year  spent 
upon  them  here,  which  at  the  end  of  one  year  in  the  field  will  in  these 
subjects  put  him  ahead  of  the  men  that  went  out  raw  and  spent  two 
years  there?  I  am  thinking  now,  not  of  languages,  but  of  such  sub- 
jects as  the  religious  history,  customs,  institutions,  etc.,  of  a  particular 
field. 

Now  there  are  those  who  hold — and  we  have  got  to  find  out 
whether  they  are  right  or  wrong,  and  that  can  only  be  done  by  experi- 
ment such  as  we  are  carrying  on — there  are  those  who  hold,  and  mis- 
sionaries are  among  them,  that  if  you  take  a  young  man  straight  from 
the  seminary  out  info  the  field  and  then  give  him  his  books,  in  English, 
with  which  to  begin  the  study  of  these  things,  with  all  the  phenomena 
around  him,  you  are  taking  the  slower  and  less  thorough  method.  To 
begin  with,  you  are  hampering  his  acquisition  of  the  language ;  for  a 
man  learning  a  language  ought  to  have  no  English  reading  at  all.  Ex- 
pert teachers  of  modern  languages  in  Europe  will  teach  a  language  in 
six  weeks  to  a  man  who  does  not  know  a  word  of  it  to  start  with,  so 
that  he  can  get  along  in  conversation,  on  one  condition — that  that  man 
reads  no  books,  no  newspapers,  and  has  no  conversation  in  his  native 
language.  But  what  do  we  do  with  our  young  missionaries  when  we 
send  them  to  India  or  China  ?  We  send  them  there  to  live  in  a  com- 
pound ;  we  set  them  there  surrounded  by  English  books ;  and  we  say, 


COMMITTEE    II.— DISCUSSION.  75 

Now  we  want  you  to  read  up  the  customs  and  religion  and  history  of 
this  people — in  what?  In  English.  Now,  that  is  not  scientific.  It  is 
wasting  time ;  it  is  scattering  the  attention.  It  is  really  unscientific  as 
a  mere  method  of  teaching  the  language.  Then,  on  his  other  subjects 
of  study,  that  man,  in  the  reading  of  those  books  in  English,  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  confusing  phenomena,  is  plunged  into  the  difficult  task 
of  getting  at  principles  and  observing  phenomena  at  the  same  time. 
Now  it  is  again  questionable  whether  that  is  the  most  thoroughgoing, 
scientific  way  of  doing  it.  It  is  a  question  whether  these  men,  if  they 
have  the  principles  of  these  things  and  the  fundamental  outlines  of 
these  subjects  ground  into  them  under  wise  guidance  at  home,  will  not 
find  the  whole  thing  open  up  and  reveal  itself  to  them  in  a  few  weeks 
with  a  luminosity  that  could  not  have  been  reached  in  the  same  time 
under  other  conditions. 

Now  that  is  my  abstract,  prejudiced  anticipation  of  what  we  shall 
find  to  be  the  case,  and  I  acknowledge  it  is  still  experimental;  but  I 
want  to  see  that  experiment  tried.  I  would  like  to  see  Dr.  Paul  and  Dr. 
Beach  and  ourselves  at  Hartford,  and  others  help  one  another  to  dis- 
cover whether  that  is  really  the  case  or  not.  And  I  think  we  shall  all 
be  frank  enough  and  manly  enough  to  admit  that  it  is  not  the  case  if  it 
can  be  proved  that  the  young  men  who  go  out  without  that  preparation 
are,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  better  up  in  languages  and  better  up  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  situation  than  the  men  who  took  a  whole  year  of 
added  work  at  home,  and  even  one  year  only  on  the  field. 

Now,  that  does  not  answer  a  great  many  of  the  other  questions 
that  have  been  raised  here,  but  I  do  feel  as  if  that  were  an  important 
aspect  of  the  question  that  has  to  be  considered  as  we  go  on  with  our 
as  yet  inconclusive  experimentation. 


REPORT  OF   COMMITTEE  III 

ON  COURSES  OF  READING  FOR  CANDIDATES    UNDER  APPOINTMENT 
FOR  MISSIONARY  SERVICE  AND   FOR  MISSIONARIES 

Members  of  the  committee  :  Rev.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.  D.,  Chairman ; 
Prof.  Harlan  P.  Beach,  M.  A.,  Prof.  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.  D.,  President  Henry 
C.  King,  Ph.  D.,  President  C.  T.  Paul,  Ph.  D.,  Dean  James  E.  Russell,  Ph.  D., 
T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.  D. 

Presented  by  Dr.  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.  D.,  Chairman 

Dr.  Chamberlain:  The  tentative  report  of  this  committee  is 
submitted  in  typewritten  form.  I  took  the  responsibiHty  on  behalf 
of  the  committee  of  withholding  this  report  from  printed  form  for  what 
appeared  to  me  to  be  obvious  reasons.  The  discussion  or  the  criticism 
that  may  grow  out  of  its  presentation  this  afternoon  may  easily  result 
in  altering  its  form.  The  title  of  each  book  is  to  be  followed  with 
annotations.  These  are  practically  ready.  Should,  however,  certain 
books  be  omitted  or  others  introduced  as  a  result  of  the  discussion,  it 
would  very  materially  alter  the  arrangement.  There  has  also  been 
some  apprehension  on  the  part  of  myself  and  others  of  the  committee 
lest  we  should  hurry  too  quickly  into  print  in  regard  to  a  matter  of  this 
importance. 

This  committee  has  had  the  co-operation  of  such  bibliographers 
as  Prof.  Beach,  of  Yale,  whose  former  association  with  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  has  so  much  improved  the  reading  of  students  in 
this  regard;  Dr.  Capen,  of  Hartford,  who  has  made  a  very  valuable 
contribution  to  our  work ;  Principal  Paul,  of  the  Indianapolis  Training 
School ;  Dr.  Sailer,  of  New  York ;  President  King,  of  Oberlin,  and 
Dean  Russell,  of  Columbia  University. 

There  has  been  a  definite  limitation  placed  on  the  committee  in 
view  of  the  instructions  received  by  us,  which  has  made  it  impossible 
for  us  to  take  advantage  of  the  reports  recently  published  containing 
valuable  bibliographies.  That  limitation  grows  out  of  the  very  charac- 
ter of  our  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation. 

The  limitation  upon  us  is  in  the  instruction,  "Courses  of  reading 
for  candidates  under  appointment  for  foreign  missionary  service." 
This,  therefore,  necessarily  excludes  from  our  list  that  large  number 
of  books  that  appeal  to  the  interest  and  imagination  and  arouse  sym- 
pathy, because  it  presupposes  a  determination  of  the  whole  question 
on  the  part  of  the  individual  who  is  the  object  of  our  particular  efifort 
in  this  case. 

There  are  two  questions  that  arose  in  the  minds  of  the  members 
of  the  committee.  They  are  indicated  in  this  report — as  to  whether  the 
suggested  bibliography  should  be  full  and  elaborate  or  brief  and  sug- 
gestive, and  what  should  be  the  line  of  its  divisions. 

The  admirable  bibliographies  recently  published,  to  which  I  have 
referred,  are  those  which  have  grown  out  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference 

76 


COMMITTEE   III.— REPORT.  77 

very  largely,  primarily  that  one  that  was  included  in  Volume  VI,  the 
report  on  the  Home  Base,  containing  two  hundred  pages  of  most  valu- 
able bibliography,  and  one  that  has  grown  out  of  that,  issued  recently 
by  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 


THE  REPORT 

Note: — The  report  is  presented  in  outline  for  suggestions  and  criticisms. 
The  titles  of  books  are  included  in  typewritten  form  for  distribution  to  the 
Board.  They  are  omitted  from  this  printed  report  until  the  committee  can  act 
upon  the  suggestions  received.  It  is  proposed  that  these  titles,  each  accompanied 
with  a  brief  descriptive  annotation,  will  appear  under  the  following  divisions 
along  with  the  full  Report  of  the  Twentieth  Foreign  Missions  Conference. 

The  order  of  subjects  proposed  is  that  of  the  logical  sequence 
which  is  suggested  by  the  candidate's  approach  to  the  subject — his  first 
broad  view  of  the  subject;  his  thought  of  himself  and  his  qualifications 
and  preparation  therefor ;  the  field  to  which  he  expects  to  go,  its  peo- 
ples, religions  and  languages;  the  work  in  its  variety  as  missionaries 
carry  it  on ;  the  secret  of  success  as  seen  in  the  lives  of  great  workers ; 
then  follows  a  suggested  group  of  studies  which  he  may  have  taken, 
but  which  call  for  special  emphasis ;  and,  finally,  the  study  of  his  Board 
and  its  policy. 

Superior  numerals  attached  to  titles  will  indicate  the  relative  grade 
of  the  studies  or  readings  as  regards  simplicity  or  fullness. 

Annotations  are  to  follow  each  title  and  to  indicate,  if  necessary, 
special  parts  or  chapters. 

I.  The  Enterprise  in  Its  General  Aspects. 

II.  The  Candidate's  Preparation. 

III.  The  Mission  Fields. 

IV.  The  Peoples  and  Their  Characteristics. 
V.  Religions  of  the  Mission  Fields. 

VI.  Language  and  Literature. 

VII.  Methods  Used  on  the  Fields. 

VIII.  Successful  Workers  on  Foreign  Fields. 

IX.  Bible  Study. 

X.  Education. 

XL  Sociology. 

XII.  Phonetics. 

XIII.  Apologetics. 

XIV.  Missions  and  International  Relationships. 
XV.  History  of  Missions. 

XVI.     Science  and  Theory  of  Missions. 
XVII.     Medical  Missions. 
XVIII.     Literature  of  One's  Own  Board. 

It  is  understood  that  where  a  candidate  knows  his  future  field  he 
will  select  only  those  works  which  have  to  do  with  that  field.  So,  in 
the  case  of  Religions,  he  will  read  on  the  religion  with  which  he  will 
have  most  to  do,  and  of  the  books  suggested  on  that  religion  he  will 
choose  one  or  two.  But  even  then  the  list  is  longer  than  most  candi- 
dates will  be  likely  to  use.  Accordingly,  a  list  of  ten  books  of  a  gen- 
eral character  is  indicated  by  an  $  against  the  titles.  These  can  easily 
be  read  carefully  by  a  candidate  who  is  pursuing  his  theological  studies 
in  an  institution  in  which  missionary  instruction  is  not  given. 

[Following  presentation  of  this  Report  several  members  of  the 
Board  offered  suggestions.  On  request  of  Dr.  Chamberlain,  it  was 
agreed  that  all  suggestions  should  be  sent  in  writing  to  the  Chairman.] 


REPORT  OF    COMMITTEE    IV 

ON  THE  FUND.\MENTAL  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  THE 
FOREIGN  MISSIONARY 

Members  of  the  Committee: — Rev.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.  D.,  Chair- 
man; Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.  D.,  Prof.  Charles  R.  Erdman,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Wm.  I. 
Chamberlain,  Ph.  D.,  John  R.  Mott,  LL.  D. 

Presented  by  Dr.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  Chairman 

Dr.  Mackenzie:  The  Committee,  owing  to  the  delinquency  and 
procrastination  of  the  chairman,  was  not  able  to  give  a  very  full  con- 
sideration to  the  draft  report  that  is  presented  here  as  No.  IV.  There 
must  be  a  great  deal  of  criticism  of  it  relevant,  and  that  would  add  to 
whatever  value  it  might  have  for  the  people  we  are  to  send  it  to.  It 
was  written  specifically  with  a  view  to  helping  the  missionary  boards, 
and  that  not  through  our  own  feeling  that  they  require  our  particular 
help,  but  because  so  many  people  said  that  such  help  was  needed  in 
various  directions,  and  that  the  missionary  boards  themselves  would 
be  the  first  to  confess  that  they  desired  and  needed  help  at  this  point. 
It  is  not  always  easy  with  freshness  to  put  to  each  case  what  the  fim- 
damental  conditions  are,  and  the  board  secretaries  themselves  some- 
times feel  the  need  of  stimulation  and  of  counsel  with  others  as  to  the 
best  means  of  securing  those  fundamental  qualifications.  When  the 
executive  committee  planned  this  thing,  Dr.  Mott  spoke  with  very 
great  impressiveness  on  the  necessity  for  such  a  document  as  is  here 
drawn  up  from  his  very  wide  experience  of  the  missionary  world  and 
of  the  attitude  and  spirit  of  missionary  boards.  I  raised  the  question 
as  to  whether  it  would  not  seem  an  intrusion,  as  to  whether  such  a 
document  might  not  seem  to  come  with  ill  grace  from  people  who  are 
not  so  close  to  the  actual  work  as  they  are,  and  he  and  others  have 
assured  us  that,  if  the  thing  were  done  in  the  right  spirit  and  in  the 
right  way,  no  such  resentment  would  be  felt,  but,  rather,  that  perhaps 
a  very  warm  welcome  would  be  given  to  such  a  document. 

A  glance  at  it  will  show  you  that  it  has  four  main  divisions.  In 
the  first  place,  it  considers  the  physical  qualifications ;  in  the  second 
place,  the  educational  qualifications ;  in  the  third  place,  the  religious  or 
spiritual  qualifications;  and  in  the  fourth,  the  moral,  personal,  tem- 
peramental qualifications.  No  doubt  this  might  be  arranged  in  a  diflfer- 
ent  order.  Some  might  wish  to  begin  with  the  religious,  as  being  the 
central  and  fundamental  after  all,  but  this  seemed  in  a  way  the  natural 
way  to  take  it.  First,  that  which  is  natural,  and  then  that  which  is 
spiritual;  and  it  seemed  as  if  that  were  the  order  that  might  recom- 
mend itself  to  those  reading  the  thing  as  rendering  it  most  easy  of 
apprehension.  We  have  tried  to  avoid  anything  like  dogmatism,  any- 
thing that  rang  from  the  point  of  view  of  any  one  school,  in  any 
narrow  sense  of  the  term,  but  rather  to  speak  in  the  general  spirit  of 

78 


COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT.  79 

the  missionary  movement,  its  intention  and  end.  We  have  tried  to  set 
down  those  things,  not  that  are  fresh  or  imthought  of  and  undreamed 
of  by  other  people,  which  usually  are  not  of  very  much  value  for  any- 
one, but  to  set  down  those  things  which  are  of  common  belief  and, 
therefore,  of  really  essential  and  fundamental  importance.  You  will 
not  find  anything  new  in  it  from  beginning  to  end — I  hope  not — ^but  if 
it  succeeds  at  all,  it  does  so  by  describing  in  the  simplest  and  most  ob- 
vious way  that  which  we  all  know  to  be  the  group  of  fundamental 
qualifications  for  this  career. 


THE   REPORT 

During  the  last  few  years  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  has 
undergone  rapid  and  sweeping  changes.  The  awakening  of  the  East, 
the  spread  of  western  education,  commerce  and  industrial  methods 
through  Asia  and  Africa,  the  union  of  all  nations  and  tribes  in 
a  vast  international  system  of  political,  social  and  intellectual  life 
are  facts  which  create  entirely  new  conditions  for  the  foreign  mission- 
ary. The  very  growth  of  the  native  church  in  missionary  lands  has 
also  changed  the  function  of  the  missionary,  or,  at  least,  has  called  into 
existence  a  new  type  of  missionary  responsibility  and  labor.  More- 
over, the  missionary  Boards  and  societies  have  come  into  new  relations 
with  one  another,  and  in  every  direction  are  seeking,  not  merely  to  co- 
operate with  one  another,  but,  as  it  were,  to  standardize  their  work.  Yet 
again,  the  agencies  for  the  preparation  of  the  missionary  have  been 
multiplied,  and  will  soon  be  greater  than  our  fathers  ever  dreamed  of 
as  either  necessary  or  possible. 

In  view  of  all  these  facts,  it  is  evident  that  the  hour  has  come  for 
a  careful  reconsideration  of  the  qualifications  of  the  missionary,  in 
which  all  the  Boards  should  unite  for  mutual  stimulus  and  guidance. 
Without  reviewing  the  past,  we  may  from  the  present  and  future  be 
able  to  discover  what  manner  of  person,  in  our  new  world,  the  mis- 
sionary ought  to  be.  There  are  four  main  divisions  under  which  we 
must  consider  the  fundamental  qualifications  of  the  missionary — 
namely.  Physical,  Educational,  Religious,  Moral  and  Social. 

I. — Physical  Qualifications 

From  the  beginning  it  has  been  recognized  that  no  one  should  be 
sent  out  as  a  missionary  who  is  not  certified  by  a  competent  medical  ex- 
aminer to  be  of  good  health  and  sound  constitution.  The  foolishness 
of  sending  out  the  unfit,  not  to  speak  of  the  cruelty,  has  been  always 
obvious  to  all.  But  experience  has  proved  that  two  principles  need  to 
be  specially  emphasized : 

(i)  In  the  first  place,  different  climates  and  different  kinds  of 
work  suit  different  constitutions.  A  person  who  is  not  likely  to  live 
long  in  one  country  may  be  actually  benefited  by  being  sent  elsewhere. 
Even  within  the  same  country  climates  differ  so  much,  that  a  life  which 
would  probably  be  cut  short  in  one  part  may  be  invigorated  and  pro- 
longed in  another.  This  principle  of  close  discrimination  can  be  and 
is  now  being  carried  even  further,  for  missionary  labor  is  now  of  so 
many  forms  that  a  person  who  would  be  physically  in  danger  under 
one  form  may  be  in  no  special  danger  under  another  kind  of  work  in 
the  same  region.  A  man,  for  instance,  whose  heart  conditions  would 
make  it  inadvisable  to  engage  in  much  public  speaking  may  live  to  a 
good  old  age  in  most  valuable  service  of  another  kind. 


80  COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT. 

These  facts  demand  that  something  more  than  a  technical  state- 
ment, however  full  it  may  be,  as  to  a  candidate's  physical  condition 
should  be  sought.  His  condition  should  be  studied  in  relation  to  vari- 
ous kinds  of  climates,  and  even  in  relation  to  various  kinds  of  work — 
as  is  already  done  by  many  of  the  Boards. 

(2)  In  the  second  place,  it  is  a  fundamental  qualification  for  foreign 
service  that  each  missionary  be  well  grounded  in  the  general  rules  of 
health  and  in  the  special  application  of  them  to  the  region  of  his  future 
labors.  This  instruction  should  give  much  more  than  a  superficial 
knowledge  of  a  few  rules,  and  should  include  the  knowledge  of  some 
anatomy  and  physiology. 

Nor  should  the  Boards  feel  that  their  responsibilities  end  there. 
They  should  watch  over  the  health  of  their  missionaries.  Especially 
is  this  the  case  when  men  are  allowed  to  go  home  on  sick  leave.  Men 
on  sick  leave  should  be  treated  as  if  on  special  service.  It  is  when  a 
man's  vitality  is  depleted  that  he  is  least  able  to  take  care  of  himself 
and  has  least  energy  or  inclination  to  use  the  right  means  for  recovery. 
Supervised  rest  is  what  he  needs.  Examples  could  be  given  of  valu- 
able lives  which  have  been  crippled  and  shortened  by  neglect  of  this 
obvious  rule  of  prudent  administration. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  recent  times  a  new  conception  of 
bodily  fitness  or  health  has  grown  up.  It  has  become  clear  that,  in  a 
true  moral  order,  physical  health  has  a  place  of  vital  importance.  The 
promotion  of  this  health  requires  obedience  to  the  laws  of  life,  self- 
control  in  the  matter  of  bodily  pleasure,  and  systematic  exercise  for 
the  purpose  of  maintaining  all  the  powers  of  our  human  nature  at 
their  best.  This  noble  conception  corrects  and  yet  completes  the  older 
notions  of  an  ascetic  life.  It  has,  no  doubt,  its  dangers,  like  all  good 
things  on  earth ;  but  it  has  within  it  great  blessing  for  the  whole  race, 
and  is  most  Christian  in  its  true  and  inner  meaning.  To  live  for  the 
body  is  not  Christian.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  to  neglect  or  despise 
or  misuse  the  body,  even  in  the  name  of  religion,  is  not  a  religious  or 
a  Christian  attitude. 

This,  too,  is  a  part  of  that  general  view  of  human  nature  and 
human  responsibility  which  has  grown  up,  or,  at  least,  assumed  a  new 
meaning,  in  the  midst  of  our  Christian  civilization.  It  is  part  of  that 
general  and  rich  view  of  life  which  the  missionary  must  take  to  non- 
Christian  lands.  Not  only  the  men,  but  especially  the  women  of  some 
of  these  regions,  need  to  be  led  and  inspired  by  those  who  know  these 
things  and  who  have  learned  in  school  and  college  to  practice  them,  as 
part  of  their  service  of  Christ  and  as  a  condition  of  true  and  full  com- 
munion with  God  through  the  laws  of  nature  which  He  has  ordained. 

11. — ^Educational  Qualifications 

A  great  change  has  recently  come  over  the  minds  of  those  who  are 
at  work  in  the  missionary  cause  in  respect  to  the  intellectual  equip- 
ment of  the  missionary.  It  has  long  been  assumed  that  both  the  gen- 
eral and  the  professional  training  of  missionaries  should  be  of  a  high 
quality.  Thus  most  Boards  are  unwilling  to  send  out  men  who  do  not 
have  at  least  one  degree  in  arts,  medicine,  science  or  theology.  The 
value  of  sound  culture  and  the  vital  necessity  of  professional  efficiency 
among  missionaries  are  universally  recognized,  and  they  do  not  need 
to  be  argued  here.  But  the  change  which  we  must  describe  has  arisen 
in  relation  to  certain  matters  that  lie  outside  the  scope  of  an  ordinary 
degree,  or  of  direct  training  for  a  recognized  "profession."    They  con- 


COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT.  81 

cern  what  has  come  to  be  called  "Special  Missionary  Preparation." 
Specifically,  this  subject  contains  three  elements — Knowledge  of  Chris- 
tianity, Knowledge  of  the  Field,  and  Mastery  of  the  Instruments  of 
Work.  There  are  certain  facts  under  each  of  these  heads  which  must 
be  firmly  grasped  if  we  would  know  clearly  what  are  the  fundamental 
qualifications  for  missionary  service. 

I.  Knowledge  of  Christianity.  The  principle  is  too  obvious  to 
need  defense,  or  even  exposition,  that  the  missionary  must  know  Chris- 
tianity, if  his  work  is  to  have  any  significance  at  all.  The  principle 
has  been  very  fully  recognized  as  to  the  work  of  the  ordained  mis- 
sionary. 

All  important  Boards  have  made  it  a  rule  that  the  missionary 
should  have  the  same  training  as  his  brother  minister  at  home.  And 
it  is  interesting  to  remember  that,  according  to  the  Report  of  Commis- 
sion V  to  the  Edinburgh  Conference,  the  missionaries  themselves  were 
found  to  attach  very  great  importance  to  this  ideal.  With  the  rise  of 
educational  standards  on  all  missionary  fields,  it  is  vital  that  the  native 
Christians  and  their  pastors  should  not  gain  the  impression  that  a 
poorer  or  less  complete  training  is  given  to  those  candidates  for  ordina- 
tion who  are  going  out  to  teach  and  to  lead  them.  Rather  is  the  press- 
ure at  present  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  missionary  theological 
student  must  have  what  is  deemed  essential  for  the  home  minister,  and 
more.  What  that  more  is  will  depend  largely  upon  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
young  man,  the  wisdom  of  his  Board,  and  the  opportunities  within  his 
reach. 

But  the  same  principle,  that  the  missionary  must  know  Chris- 
tianity, applies  to  all  other  classes  besides  the  ordained  man.  It  is 
curious  and  pathetic  to  realize  how  often  this  has  been  ignored.  It  is 
a  fact  that  large  numbers  of  men  and  the  majority  of  women  have 
been  sent  to  teach  Christianity  without  having  made  a  special  study  of 
it  under  competent  guidance  for  themselves.  No  doubt  they  have  been 
examined  as  to  their  faithful  acceptance  of  their  Church  creeds,  and 
also  as  to  their  diligent  private  reading  of  the  Bible  and  general  knowl- 
edge of  its  contents,  for  the  purposes  of  devotion.  But  far  too  many 
have  been  sent  forth  with  little  more,  literally,  than  that.  Today  a 
great  change  has  come,  and  it  is  universally  admitted  that  no  one  should 
go  out,  even  as  a  lay  missionary,  who  has  not  had  sound  and  real  in- 
struction in  the  Bible  and  in  the  exposition  and  defense  of  Christian 
truth.  The  need  of  this  is  too  obvious,  the  danger  of  the  opposite 
course  is  nowadays  too  great,  to  make  any  argument  on  this  topic  neces- 
sary, or  even  courteous,  to  the  intelligence  of  those  who  are  likely  to 
read  these  paragraphs.  It  is  not  likely  to  be  denied  today  that  all 
classes  of  unordained  missionaries,  ph3^sicians,  educators,  nurses,  arti- 
sans, evangelists,  etc.,  must  be  not  only  advised,  but  assisted,  and  by 
the  conditions  of  appointment  compelled,  to  obtain  this  part  of  their 
training  or  prove  that  they  have  acquired  it  already. 

It  is,  however,  important  to  state  four  of  the  ways  in  which  in- 
adequate knowledge  of  Christianity  hinders  missionary  efficiency.  The 
first  is  the  discovery  of  personal  incompetence  to  meet  certain  situa- 
tions, to  discuss  the  claims  and  authority  of  the  Gospel.  If  discour- 
agement meets  a  man  early,  he  becomes  all  too  soon  content  to  do  his 
professional  work  as  a  physician  or  educator  well,  but  his  religious 
work  as  routine  or  custom  compel  him,  without  freshness  and  power. 
The  second,  which  is  similar,  in  effect,  has  a  deeper  psychological  root. 
When  the  first  enthusiasm  of  youth  has  passed  such  a  worker  is  apt  to 


82  COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT. 

take  easier  and  superficial  views  of  his  task.  It  is  when  the  emotional 
life  cools  that  the  trained  intelligence  is  needed.  Deep  conviction  alone 
keeps  deep  devotion  alive  through  the  stresses  and  perplexities  of  an 
arduous  life.  And  deep  conviction  is  born  of  knowledge  and  medita- 
tion, begun  in  youth  and  actively  sustained  through  the  years.  In  the 
third  place,  it  is  only  too  true  that  superficial  knowledge  can  make,  even 
in  a  missionary  circle,  for  fanatical  quarrelling  on  minor  points.  And 
lastly,  superficial  knowledge  of  Christianity  leads  to  superficial  ways  of 
presenting  the  Gospel  and  superficial  tests  of  conversion. 

2.  Knowledge  of  the  Field.  The  biographies  of  missionaries  show 
that  most  of  the  eminent  men  among  them  felt  the  need  of  prepara- 
tion for  their  particular  field  before  they  arrived  upon  it.  This 
preparation  they  sought  by  means  of  books  and  correspondence.  Ex- 
perience and  the  growth  of  the  work,  as  well  as  the  readier  means  of 
communication,  have  made  the  preliminary  knowledge  of  the  field  both 
more  urgent  and  more  accessible. 

It  is  now  generally  agreed  that  special  preparation,  over  and  above 
the  general  preparation  in  professional  training  and  knowledge  of 
Christianity,  is  one  of  the  fundamental  qualifications  of  the  young  mis- 
sionary. No  missionary  should  be  considered  as  equipped  for  entrance 
upon  the  field  without  it.  Some  of  this  work  can  and  ought  to  be  done 
privately.  But  most  of  it  can  be  best  done  for  the  large  majority  of 
candidates  by  thoroughly  equipped  and  earnest  teachers. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  in  detail  what  this  preparation  shall 
consist  of,  especially  as  the  matter  is  fully  discussed  in  Report  V  of 
the  Edinburgh  Conference,  and  not  much  further  knowledge  has  yet 
been  gathered  which  can  throw  light  upon  it.  But  some  things  are 
obvious  and  important  above  others : 

(i)  The  experience  of  a  hundred  years  has  built  up  what  may  be 
called  the  Science  of  Missions.  In  order  to  know  this  science,  the 
young  missionary  should  have  instruction  in  the  history,  methods  and 
principles  of  missionary  work  and  in  those  facts  which  come  under  the 
general  head  of  Sociology. 

(2)  The  student  should  not  only  have  some  idea  of  the  general 
History  of  Religions,  but  he  ought  to  be  taught  the  nature,  doctrines, 
morals  and  practices  of  the  special  religion  or  religions  in  that  region 
to  which  he  is  appointed.  All  this  he  will  learn  quicker  and  better  on 
the  field  if  he  has  had  good  preparatory  teaching  on  the  subjects  under 
competent  teachers  at  home.  In  this  paragraph  must  be  included  some 
knowledge  of  the  history,  character  and  customs  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  will  work. 

3.  Mastery  of  the  Instruments.  There  are  two  main  subjects 
which  may  be  named  as  Instruments  which  every  missionary  must 
use  and  on  his  skill  in  which  the  value  of  his  work  will  very  largelv 
depend.     These  are  the  language  of  his  field  and  the  art  of  education. 

I.  It  need  not  be  settled  here  whether  and  how  far  the  study  of 
vernaculars  can  be  successfully  begun  before  the  young  missionary 
reaches  the  field.  Only  careful  experiment  can  settle  that,  and  no  such 
experiments  have  yet  been  carried  on  in  the  English-speaking  coun- 
tries of  Europe  and  America.  But  one  thing  of  vast  importance  has 
been  definitely  settled  in  the  minds  of  all  who  know  the  facts.  The 
Science  of  Phonetics  has  been  so  far  worked  out  and  its  application  to 
the  teaching  of  languages  has  been  so  well  established  that  it  is  safe  to 


COMMITTEE   IV.— REPORT.  83 

say  this:  No  Board  should  he  content  to  send  out  any  young  man  or 
woman  who  has  not  had  a  good  course  under  a  competent  teacher  of 
Phonetics.  Moreover,  it  is  universally  admitted  that  certain  difficult 
literary  languages  of  the  East  ought  to  be  studied  by  those  destined 
to  use  them,  under  competent  western  teachers. 

2.  There  is  no  doubt  that  some  training  should  be  had  in  Pedagogy 
and  Psycholog)',  given  with  a  special  view  to  the  uses  of  the  mission- 
ary. Since  practically  every  missionary  is  going  to  be  a  teacher  of 
some  kind,  the  immense  importance  of  this  is  quite  clear.  The  power 
of  the  educational  work  on  all  missionary  fields  depends  largely  upon 
this  kind  of  preparation. 

III. — Religious  Qualifications 

It  is  assumed,  of  course,  that  a  personal  faith  in  the  Gospel  and 
a  personal  experience  of  its  power  are  possessed  by  everyone  who  be- 
comes a  candidate  for  the  mission  field.  It  is  ridiculous  to  defend  an 
opposite  principle;  it  is  tragic  to  trifle  with  this  one.  And  yet  the 
very  assumption  that  no  intelligent  person  will  offer  himself  as  a  mis- 
sionary without  this  qualification  may  easily  lead  to  disaster.  The  mo- 
tives which  impel  the  young  are  varied  and  often  deeply  confused. 
And  it  is,  alas  1  not  unknown  that  a  man  should  be  sent  out  to  preach 
Christ  whose  own  experience  of  His  powder  is  utterly  inadequate  for 
so  searching  and  exacting  a  task.  The  consequences  can  only  be  a 
long,  dull  toil,  without  joy  and  with  the  scantiest  fruitage.  The  very 
charity  and  Christian  optimism,  which  nowadays  open  the  door  of  the 
Church  so  wide  to  the  young  and  unmatured,  may  misguide  us  in  the 
selection  and  training  of  those  who  are  to  be,  not  followers,  but  lead- 
ers, not  occasional  workers,  but  trusted  captains  and  scarred  generals  of 
the  great  war. 

For  their  own  sakes,  as  well  as  for  the  work's  sake,  a  high  degree 
of  Christian  experience  is  necessary  among  missionaries.  No  doubt  it 
is  not  so  easy  nowadays  to  determine  this  matter  as  it  seemed  to  some 
of  our  forefathers.  Different  denominations  have  different  ways  of 
describing  and  using  their  tests.  We  have  also  grown  sensitive  about 
what  we  call  intruding  into  another  man's  inner  life.  But  the  mis- 
sionary is  going  to  deal  with  the  inner  life  of  many  men  and  women. 
He  believes  that  he  is  called  to  do  this.  And  everyone  knows  that  he 
cannot  do  it  successfully  unless  he  has  been  himself  well  grounded  and 
thoroughly  illumined  in  Christian  experience. 

May  we  venture  to  name  some  of  the  matters  on  which  every 
candidate  ought  to  be  closely  examined  by  competent  men  and  women  ? 

1.  In  the  first  place,  the  candidate  must  be  consciously  possessed 
and  dominated  by  a  direct  and  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  his  own 
Saviour  and  Lord.  There  are  many  ways  of  describing  this  faith, 
many  doors  of  entrance  into  its  possession,  and  varieties  of  emotional 
experience  in  its  exercise.  Nowadays  no  rigid,  rule-of-thumb  method 
can  be  employed  for  expressing  or  discovering  the  reality  or  depth  of 
this  experience,  in  all  cases  alike.  All  the  more  need  is  there  for  ex- 
amination of  the  candidates  to  see  that  they  have  the  root  of  the  mat- 
ter in  them,  that  they  have  made  sure  in  their  own  heart  and  mind  of 
the  supreme  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and  His  su- 
preme authority  as  Ruler  of  their  lives. 

2.  Rising  out  of  this,  and  yet  in  the  Christian  consciousness  one 
with  it,  is  the  sense  of  communion  with  God.  The  missionary  goes 
forth  to  preach  Christ,  not  merely  as  a  wise  and  gifted  Teacher,  su- 


84  COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT. 

perior  as  a  teacher  to  all  others,  but  as  the  one  in  and  through  whom 
God  the  Father  Himself  enters  the  human  heart  and  henceforth  keeps 
it  unto  eternal  life.  The  peace  of  God  means  everything  to  an 
awakened  conscience,  the  love  of  God  everything  to  a  mind  that  is 
aroused  to  the  terrors  and  perplexities  of  our  human  life,  the  indwell- 
ing of  God  everything  to  one  who  has  realized  that  to  be  "without 
God"  means  "having  no  hope"  here  or  hereafter.  The  Christian  mis- 
sionary has  no  real  religious  message  if  he  cannot  carry  in  his  own 
heart's  life  the  gladness  and  purity  and  strength  and  endless  hope  of 
an  indwelling  God  to  the  world  that  does  not  know  Him.  He  must  go 
bearing  the  rich  fruit  of  the  Spirit  in  his  own  soul. 

3.  But  rising  out  of  this  again,  and  necessary  to  this  communion 
with  God,  are  a  man's  habits  of  prayer.  As  the  missionary  is  to  rep- 
resent the  Christian  life  in  all  its  acts  and  qualities,  he  must  be  a  man 
to  whom  prayer  is  the  breath  of  life.  There  is  no  safeguard  for  a 
man's  personal  character,  there  is  no  proof  of  his  sincerity  and  earnest- 
ness, there  is  no  source  of  confidence  in  his  message,  no  secret  of  power 
in  its  delivery  to  be  compared  for  a  moment  with  the  constant  and 
happy  practice  of  regular,  sustained,  varied  and  intense  prayer.  The 
young  person  who  does  not  know  this  goes  out  unarmed  to  meet  the 
fully  armed  enemies  of  his  faith  and  of  his  inmost  moral  and 
spiritual  life. 

4.  And  rising  out  of  this  again  is  the  fact,  familiar  to  the  whole 
evangelical  world,  the  great  discovery  which  made  the  modern  religious 
world  on  its  inner  and  spiritual  side,  that  the  man  of  prayer  is  a  man 
whose  mind  is  soaked  constantly  in  the  Scriptures.  For  this  reason 
have  all  Protestant  missions  made  the  translation  of  the  Bible  one  of 
the  primary  and  vital  factors  of  their  work.  No  theory  need  be  here 
attempted  to  account  for  the  fact.  The  fact  is  that  wherever  the  life 
of  faith  in  Christ  and  communion  with  God  and  habitual  prayer  are 
realized  there  the  mind  and  heart  are  filled  with  the  meanings  and  the 
words  of  the  Bible.  This  is  the  best  inward  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Hence  the  Bible  is  not  a  mere  external  accident  of  Christian  experience. 
It  belongs  to  its  very  essence  so  truly  and  deeply  that  men  everywhere 
confess  themselves  cold  and  heavy  in  their  religious  life  if  they  know 
not  how  to  hear  God's  word  addressed  through  these  pages  of  Holy 
Writ  to  their  own  hearts  and  consciences. 

Every  Board  will  deal  through  its  Candidates  Committee  with  its 
own  applicants  for  missionary  appointment  in  these  matters  in  its  own 
way.  But  it  does  seem  that  at  least  these  four  matters  are  of  funda- 
mental importance.  They  must  be  dealt  with  patiently,  wisely,  chari- 
tably, kindly.  But  they  must  be  also  dealt  with  firmly,  clearly  and  de- 
cisively. The  young  applicants  will  be  the  first  always  to  appreciate 
thoroughness  at  this  point.  They  have  no  real  respect  for  superficiality 
here.  They  are  at  times  surprised  and  shocked  at  shallowness  and 
misspent  bungling  when  that  which  they  know  to  be  the  deepest  ques- 
tion of  all  is  passed  over,  by  those  who  examine  and  recommend  them 
lightly  and  easily.  Those  who  have  the  deepest  experience  welcome 
thoroughness  here,  and  those  who  tend  to  resent  it  need  it  for  their 
own  and  their  work's  sake. 

IV. — Personal  Character  and  Temper 

The  fundamental  qualifications  which  must  be  named  under  this 
general  head  are  best  arranged  in  two  groups;  first,  the  essentials  of 
character;  second,  the  essentials  of  temper. 


COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT.  85 

I.  There  are  three  essentials  of  Christian  character  which,  while 
necessary  for  all,  must  be  fully  developed  in  the  missionary.  These  are 
self-control,  humility,  and  zeal. 

( I )  The  self-control  of  which  we  speak  must  be  exercised  over  the 
whole  range  of  natural  impulse  and  appetite.  It  is  necessary  to  speak 
of  this  because,  again,  it  is  one  of  those  matters  in  which  prevailing 
charity,  which  is  often  unconscious  cowardice  and  often  issues  in  cruel 
and  harsh  experiences,  leads  us  to  take  for  granted  that  the  strong  and 
clear-eyed  young  man  before  us  is  master  of  his  appetites  and  shielded 
by  Christian  common-sense  against  any  sin  of  self-indulgence.  In  the 
great  majority  of  cases  this  is  a  true  judgment.  But  there  are  occa- 
sional instances  to  be  found  where  a  stricter  and  more  faithful  examina- 
tion at  the  crisis  of  decision  would  have  been  as  the  very  kindness  of 
God. 

The  varied  temptations  of  the  flesh  attack  men  who  go  to  live 
for  prolonged  periods  abroad  from  two  sources.  First,  the  wrench 
from  the  social  pressure  of  the  home  land  and  the  plunge  into  a  strange 
world  sometimes  shakes  the  whole  nature  of  a  man.  When  the  stand- 
ards of  the  new  world  are  lower  than  those  of  the  familiar  environ- 
ment, there  is  a  definite  drag  downwards.  In  the  majority  of  cases 
this  may  be  hardly  noticed  by  a  man  of  rugged  moral  strength.  But 
where  the  character  had  not  attained  independence,  where  it  was 
preserved  only  from  without  by  the  sustaining  power  of  home  and 
church  and  social  circle,  the  removal  of  these  props  may,  and  sometimes 
does,  lead  to  collapse,  even  in  the  earlier  years  of  life  abroad. 

The  second  strain  comes  when  a  man,  especially  if  he  is  living  in 
certain  climates  and  surroundings  which  encourage  it,  finds  himself  able 
to  regulate  wholly  his  time  and  habits  and  the  amount  of  daily  work. 
When  the  vigor  and  enthusiasm  of  youth  decrease,  the  stress  on  the 
will  to  maintain  diligence  and  self-denying  service  becomes  very  power- 
ful. All  men  in  the  home  field  who  attain  to  any  position  of  inde- 
pendence, of  authority  over  others,  know  this  stress.  But  in  a  foreign 
land,  where  authority  and  independence  inhere  in  the  very  nature  of 
a  man's  position  and  relations,  the  stress  is  more  common  and  may  be 
much  more  severe.  There  arises  the  danger  of  self-indulgence,  of 
laxity  in  the  use  of  time,  the  disinclination  to  push  the  work  hard,  the 
shrinking  from  entrance  upon  new  tasks,  the  tendency  to  do  all  work 
as  a  routine  which  is  a  burden,  and  not  as  an  opportunity  which  in- 
spires the  alert  and  eager  soul.  It  is  better  to  describe  this  matter  in 
negative  terms,  and  thus  to  point  out  the  general  but  constant  danger, 
rather  than  to  name  specific  forms  of  its  manifestation.  For  in  no  two 
cases  may  these  forms  be  identical,  and  each  heart  knows  its  own 
peculiar  temptation  and  the  path  of  self-indulgence  which  has  opened 
most  easily  and  attractively  before  it. 

In  this  matter  it  is  the  duty  of  candidates'  committees  not  merely 
to  examine  their  candidates  faithfully  and  carefully,  but  to  instruct  and 
warn  and  inform  them.  For  this  much  more  is  needed  than  a  single 
interview,  and  much  more  than  an  address  delivered  to  a  group  of 
young  men  and  women  on  the  moral  dangers  which  lie  before  them. 

(2)  In  addition  to  this  matter  of  self-control,  the  mastery  of  appe- 
tite and  impulse,  the  other  two  fundamental  qualities  of  character — 
viz.,  humility  and  zeal — may  be  named  and  discussed  together.  Though 
we  do  not  often  realize  it,  neither  of  these  qualities  can  be  effective 
without  the  other.  Humility  without  zeal  may  look  like,  and  often  is, 
weakness  rather  than  strength.     And  zeal  without  humility  may  be, 


86  COMMITTEE    IV.— REPORT. 

and  often  is,  rude,  inconsiderate  and  repulsive.  The  spirit  of  humility 
and  the  spirit  of  earnestness  are  one  in  the  really  deep-souled  Chris- 
tian missionary.  If  a  man  goes  to  his  task  on  the  foreign  field  with- 
out both  of  these,  his  labors  are  likely  to  be  resented  or  despised.  To 
win  them  both,  a  man  needs  to  be  well  drilled  in  the  school  of  Christ 
and  His  apostles,  and  familiar  with  the  heart  and  manner  of  the  great 
messengers  of  the  Gospel  in  all  lands  and  generations. 

(3)  In  connection  with  all  three  of  these  fundamental  qualities  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  name  the  demand  for  that  form  of  self-con- 
trol and  humility  which  produces  freedom  from  anger  and  patience  of 
spirit.  Many  missionary  groups  have  suffered  permanently  and  their 
work  has  been  wofully  hindered  by  the  habitual  ill-temper  and  easily 
aroused  passion  of  some  one  of  their  members.  In  India,  where  ill- 
temper  is  universally  considered  a  sign  of  ungodliness,  and  patience  is 
regarded  universally  as  a  prime  virtue,  the  man  who  cannot  control  his 
anger  is  a  constant  disproof  of  Christianity.  Not  all  his  eloquence 
and  diligence  can  counteract  the  effect  of  that  irreligious  phase  of  his 
character.  The  man  of  impatience,  of  hot  speech,  of  ebullient  passion, 
cannot  represent  Christ  among  the  higher  civilizations  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian world,  and  misrepresents  Him  among  the  lower.  The  matter  has 
been  well  summed  up  by  saying  that  the  missionary  has  "need  of  radical 
conscientiousness,  of  unusual  initiative  and  of  determination  to  grow." 

2.  In  addition  to  the  fundamental  elements  of  Christian  charac- 
ter, there  are  certain  phases  of  personal  tone  or  attitude  or  general 
temper  which  are  of  essential  importance  to  the  success  of  the  mission- 
ary. Mr.  W.  A.  Rice  has  given  one  of  the  best  lists  of  them,  and  they 
may  be  named  here  as  he  gives  them :  "Earnestness,  Clearness  and 
Definiteness  (in  thought  and  statement),  Tact  and  Conciliation, 
Courtesy,  Gentleness  and  Patience,  a  Holy  Walk  and  Conversation, 
Spiritual  Equipment."  In  the  Report  of  Commission  V  to  the  Edin- 
burgh Conference  the  following  list  is  given:  (i)  The  spiritual  or 
essentially  Christian  part — namely,  love  of  God,  faith  in  Him,  hope  in 
Him;  (2)  elements  of  moral  character:  docility,  "the  peculiar  grace 
that  belongs  to  a  teachable  spirit" ;  gentleness,  "the  root  of  adaptabil- 
ity"; the  spirit  of  courtesy;  sympathy,  the  true  "secret  of  personal 
influence,  the  power  that  wins";  (3)  leadership:  the  power  which  is 
developed  out  of  the  preceding  moral  qualities  by  a  vigorous  will. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  these  in  detail.  The  object  in 
naming  them  here  is  that  those  who  have  the  care  of  the  young  candi- 
dates for  missionary  work  may  realize  how  real  is  the  value  of  close 
acquaintance  with  the  personal  tone  and  temper  of  the  young  applicants 
for  service,  and  how  vital  it  is  to  get  them  acquainted  with  the  moral 
and  spiritual  aspects  of  those  qualities  which  are  essential  to  success. 

The  evidence  of  missionaries  is  abundant  from  all  quarters  of  the 
field  that  very  soon  the  moral  and  spiritual  ideal  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
is  apprehended  well  enough  by  the  non-Christian  mind  to  be  used  as 
a  standard  for  judging  the  missionary  himself.  His  zeal,  his  sincerity, 
his  purity,  his  patience,  his  unselfishness,  his  spirit  of  sacrifice,  his  evi- 
dent walk  with  God,  are  looked  at  in  the  light  of  what  he  is  himself 
teaching  concerning  Christ.  What  they  take  for  granted  in  their  own 
religious  men  is  instinctively  felt  to  be  incongruous  and  shameful  in 
him.  Where  he  is  self-indulgent,  or  passionate  in  temper,  or  lazy,  or 
unfaithful  to  his  word  of  promise,  he  stands  condemned,  and  the  Mas- 
ter, whose  holy  power  he  proclaims,  is  instinctively  despised.  When 
he  is  seen  and  known  to  walk  with  God,  to  be  in  dead  earnest  to  win 


COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION.  87 

men  to  faith  in  Christ,  to  be  unsparing  of  self  in  seeking  and  furthering 
their  various  personal  and  social  welfare,  to  be  in  his  own  character 
master  of  his  appetites,  his  temper  and  his  habits,  he  shines  forth  as 
a  convincing,  attracting,  compelling  representative  and  herald  of  his 
Master,  the  Saviour  and  Lord  of  all  men. 

Conclusion 

In  view  of  all  that  has  been  said  thus  briefly  and  by  way  of  humble 
and  sympathetic  suggestion  rather  than  of  instruction  or  dictation,  a 
word  or  two  may  be  added  about  the  conditions  under  which  these 
qualifications  may  be  investigated  and  inculcated. 

1.  There  should  be  a  prolonged  period  of  personal  acquaintance 
with  each  candidate  on  the  part  of  those  responsible  for  his  appointment. 

2.  Where  he  has  been  already  at  work  on  the  home  field,  full 
knowledge  should  be  obtained  of  all  the  features  of  his  work  and  of  his 
past  history, 

3.  No  trouble  should  be  spared  to  obtain,  by  personal  interviews, 
as  well  as  by  schedules  of  printed  questions,  a  full  knowledge  of  the 
candidate's  reputation,  work,  character  and  influence. 

4.  Repeated  and  prolonged  personal  interviews  with  the  candidate 
should  be  had  by  persons  specifically  skilled  in  this  work  of  dealing  with 
personal  experience  and  character. 

5.  Very  full  and  patient  instruction  should  be  given  to  each  candi- 
date in  all  the  matters  discussed  in  this  pamphlet  and  in  whatever  of 
real  moment  may  have  been  omitted.  Some  of  this  instruction  should 
be  given  to  groups  or  classes.  But  no  one  should  be  sent  out  to  the 
field  who  has  not  had  the  central  matters  laid  before  him  fully  and 
kindly  and  firmly  and  sympathetically  in  repeated  private  interviews. 

If  these  rules  are  observed,  not  only  will  some  sad  cases  of  possi- 
ble failure  be  prevented,  but  everyone  who  is  accepted  and  appointed 
will  go  out  fully  forewarned  and  forearmed,  quick  to  see  the  dangers 
to  self  and  to  effective  service,  and  wise  to  preserve  character  unstained 
and  the  Divine  fellowship  unimpaired. 

THE   DISCUSSION 

President  Wilbert  W.  White:  The  report  presented  by  the 
Committee  is  an  excellent  one.  What  I  have  to  say  is  in  emphasis 
of  certain  points,  and  particularly  of  one  phase  of  training  of  the 
missionary.  I  am  the  more  free  to  speak  of  it  because  your  chair- 
man, in  requesting  me  to  respond  on  this  topic,  expressed  his  desire 
that  I  give  my  convictions. 

First  of  all,  in  considering  the  fundamental  qualifications  of  a 
missionary,  I  think  we  should  be  careful  to  avoid  too  exclusive  con- 
sideration of  the  curriculum  of  study.  Our  thought  should  include 
evidences  of  success  in  a  practical  way  which  candidates  for  the  mis- 
sion field  have  given.  What  I  mean  is  this :  Candidates  whom  we  con- 
sider for  the  mission  field  should  have  demonstrated  a  certain  amount 
of  ability  to  bring  things  to  pass.  Mr.  Spurgeon  admitted  to  his  pas- 
tor's college  those  who  had  actually  proved  themselves  Gospel  preach- 
ers. May  I  refer  in  this  connection  to  what  Dr.  Watson  said  this  after- 
noon about  personality  and  leadership?  I  should  like  to  add  to  these 
two,  adaptability,  steadfastness  and  breadth.  This  last  is  altogether 
too  often  lacking  in  the  foreign  missionary.  There  are  too  many  now 
in  the  foreign  field  who  have  never  experienced  deliverance  from  pro- 


88  COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION. 

vincialism  of  some  sort  or  other.  In  thinking  of  breadth  I  do  not 
mean  that  kind  of  breadth  which  a  river  has  when  it  overflows  both 
its  banks.  What  I  mean  is  rather  length,  breadth,  height  and  depth,  all 
from  a  center ;  a  giving  out  in  every  direction ;  a  release  from  narrow- 
ness of  every  kind;  a  real  cosmopolitan  experience.  I  believe  this  to 
me  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  preparation  of  the  foreign 
missionary. 

Again,  I  think,  we  should  give  due  account,  when  thinking  of  the 
fundamental  preparation  of  the  missionary,  to  the  limitation  of  time 
which,  in  the  present  order  of  things,  is  so  common.  This  will  require 
us  to  consider  the  number  of  secondary  subjects  and  their  relation  to 
the  chief  subject  or  subjects  to  be  included  in  preparation.  We  should 
fully  recognize  that  it  is  possible  for  us  under  present  conditions  to 
make  only  a  start  in  the  training  of  our  candidates  for  the  field.  Conse- 
quently, it  is  the  more  important  that  we  should  make  the  right  start. 
I  am  sometimes  tempted  to  say  that  I  am  becoming  less  interested  in 
how  far  I  get  my  students  on  the  way,  and  more  and  more  interested  in 
the  fundamental  importance  of  getting  them  on  the  way  of  laying  a 
foundation  on  which  they  may  build  for  all  the  future. 

This  brings  me  to  the  core  of  the  matter.  You  will  have  antici- 
pated that  I  must  speak  of  what  is  now  coming  to  be  called  the 
Biblio-centric  Curriculum.  I  beg  you  to  bear  with  me  if  I,  in  speaking 
on  this  point,  manifest  considerable  warmth.  I  have  been  with  this 
problem  in  a  sort  of  pioneering  way  now  for  almost  twenty  years.  I 
sometimes  in  speaking  manifest  a  good  deal  of  earnestness  and  say 
things  very  positively.  I  beg  you  to  believe  that  I  am  determined  by 
the  grace  of  God  always  to  be  considerate  and  to  try  to  see  things  from 
the  other  man's  standpoint.  Some  of  you  may  think  that  I  over- 
emphasize this  feature  of  preparation.  Of  course,  I  do  not  think  so ; 
but  the  opinion  of  some  that  I  do  is  not  without  its  balancing  effect 
upon  me. 

In  dealing  with  the  problem  of  fundamental  traning  for  the  mis- 
sionary, we  are  dealing  with  the  problem  of  fundamental  training  for 
any  kind  of  Christian  work.  It  does  not  matter  whether  a  person  is  aim- 
ing for  the  work  of  a  Sunday  School  Superintendent  or  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
Secretary,  a  Minister,  a  Foreign  Missionary,  a  Deaconess,  an  Evan- 
gelist, or  what-not,  the  fundamental  training  is  essentially  the  same  in 
every  case;  and  I  maintain  that  its  core,  its  center,  its  organizing  idea, 
should  be  in  a  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  mother  tongue.  Will  you 
allow  me  to  define  what  I  mean  by  a  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  mother 
tongue.  It  involves  more  than  what  is  usually  understood  to  be  in- 
cluded in  Bible  study. 

As  I  proceed,  will  you  please  keep  in  mind  the  following  three 
expressions :  The  man,  the  message  and  the  method.  What  do  I  mean 
by  the  Biblio-centric  Curriculum?  This  expression  involves  three 
things :  First,  a  curriculum ;  secondly,  a  center ;  thirdly,  a  Biblical 
center. 

May  I  speak  first  of  the  Biblical  center,  and  afterward  of  the 
curriculum  as  related  to  this  center  ?  We  hear  much  in  our  day  about 
adding  departments  of  study.  This  word  "add"  is  very  suggestive.  A 
man  as  he  grows  richer  adds  field  to  field,  but  we  do  not  add  a  limb  to 
a  tree.  A  limb  is  related  organically  to  the  tree.  In  religious  education 
we  are  in  great  danger  of  being  thrown  into  panic  by  the  increase  of 
knowledge.  We  must  be  on  guard  against  assuming  that  it  is  neces- 
sary for  a  successful  Christian  worker  to  have  investigated  all  the  de- 
partments of  knowledge,  especially  by  the  method  suggested  by  the 


COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION.  89 

word  "add";  namely,  the  method  of  the  tourist  who  goes  from  one 
country  to  another,  passing  through  one  after  another  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. The  problem  of  so-called  secular  education  is  not  yet  solved. 
Let  us  not  make  the  mistake  in  religious  education  of  assuming  this 
to  be  true,  and  consequently  hastening  in  our  imitation  of  the  secular 
educational  system. 

By  putting  the  Bible  in  the  mother  tongue  at  the  center  of  our 
religious  education,  we  secure  unity  and  definition  of  limitations,  re- 
sulting from  definiteness  of  aim.  Too  often  in  the  training  of  Chris- 
tian workers  each  department  of  study  is  conducted,  if  not  wholly  out 
of  relation,  entirely  too  much  out  of  relation  to  the  other  departments 
and  without  reference  to  a  central  or  organizing  department.  This 
organizing  department  I  maintain  should  be  the  study  of  the  Bible 
itself.  The  Scriptures  should  have  the  place  of  supremacy  in  our 
curriculum.  Every  other  department  should  do  obeisance  to  this  one. 
The  chief  discipline  in  religious  training  should  be  a  knowledge  of  the 
Bible  in  the  mother  tongue.  But  what  does  this  involve?  It  involves 
a  curriculum.  May  I  here  use  a  figure?  The  figure  of  a  wheel.  Our 
sailor  (Sailer)  this  morning  used  very  effectively  the  figure  of  the  tide 
rolling  in  after  a  man  who  was  running  frantically  away  from  it,  and 
advised  us,  you  will  remember,  should  we  ever  find  ourselves  in  such  a 
predicament,  to  turn  around  and  dive  straight  into  the  wave.  Please 
associate  my  wheel  with  a  rolling  tide,  and  thus  you  may  the  better 
remember  the  two  together. 

They  say  that  the  wheels  a  man  has  in  his  head  are  known  by  the 
spokes  which  come  out  of  his  mouth.  Here  is  a  wheel  which  I  have 
had  in  my  head  for  some  time.  The  hub  with  its  center  is  the  study  of 
the  Bible  in  the  mother  tongue.  The  spokes  of  the  wheel  are  the 
correlated  departments.  These  are  either  contributary  or  tributary. 
We  might  use  the  words  concomitant  and  residual  to  define  these  two 
types  of  correlated  departments.  What  do  I  mean  by  contributary 
departments  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  itself  in  the  mother  tongue?  I 
mean  such  departments  as  Language,  i  e..  Discourse,  History,  Psy- 
chology, Sociology,  Pedagogy,  Philosophy,  etc.  These  may  be  called 
concomitants,  by  which  I  mean  acompanying  or  attendant  studies. 
Tributary  or  residual  studies  are  such  as  Theology,  Ethics,  Apologetics, 
Psychology,  Sociology,  Pedagogy,  etc.,  so  far  as  these  have  been  con- 
tributed to  by  the  study  of  the  Bible  as  above  suggested.  Think  for 
a  moment  of  what  a  definite  purpose  to  master  the  Bible  in  the  mother 
tongue  accomplishes  in  the  way  of  definiteness  of  plan  and  organiza- 
tion such  as  is  here  suggested.  The  study  of  the  Bible  having  been 
begun,  one  is  able  to  determine  what  demands  there  are  upon  history 
and  the  other  departments  in  order  that  he  may  know  his  Bible,  and 
into  these  departments  with  specific  aim  the  student  goes  for  that  in- 
formation and  discipline  which  he  requires  in  order  that  he  may  accom- 
plish his  purpose  in  respect  to  the  Book  of  books.  He  does  not  waste 
time  in  aimless,  general  study  in  any  department.  Moreover,  he  has  an 
inspiration  which  accomplishes  wonders  in  the  way  of  economy  and 
efficiency  in  study.  Every  bit  of  information  falls  into  its  organic 
relation  to  every  other  bit,  and  thus,  working  from  a  center  out  in  every 
direction,  the  student  is  ever  increasing  in  intensity  of  purpose  and 
breadth  of  view  without  being  aimless  or  without  unity.  A  person 
cannot  study  the  Bible  in  any  part  of  it  for  five  minutes  without  seeing 
the  necessity  of  knowing  the  history  relating  to  the  portion  which  he 
is  studying.  In  his  mother  tongue,  the  words  used  in  order  to  under- 
standing will  lead  him  into  the  history  of  his  own  language,  which  in 


90  COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION. 

turn  leads  him  into  history  in  general  and  stimulates  in  him  ultimately 
the  desire  to  know  the  languages  in  which  the  Bible  was  originally 
given. 

Nor  can  one  study  the  Bible  five  minutes  without  recognizing  the 
need  of  true  psychological  and  sociological  instincts,  because  the  Bible 
has  come  through  human  experience  and  language.  As  this  experience 
was  wrought  out,  not  only  in  the  individual,  but  in  the  groups  repre- 
sented by  the  family,  the  tribe,  the  city,  the  nation  and  the  rest,  imme- 
diately also  the  pedagogical  aspects  of  the  Bible  loom  into  promi- 
nence. Thus  studying  the  Bible,  before  one  knows  it,  he  finds  all  fields 
correlated ;  and  in  his  Bible  itself  he  finds  the  unity  and  limitations  of 
these  fields  as  has  been  intimated.  The  by-products  of  such  Bible 
study  in  the  various  departments  mentioned  are  large. 

At  the  risk  of  repetition,  may  I  tarry  here  to  make  one  point,  if 
possible,  in  a  special  manner  perfectly  clear.  The  policy  here  advocated 
is  that  of  going  at  once  into  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  mother 
tongue,  and  then  following  the  lines  in  these  other  departments  which 
are  manifestly  required  in  order  to  know  our  Bible,  instead  of  first 
spending  large  time  and  energy  in  these  departments  preliminary  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible.  The  practical  value  of  knowing  these  depart- 
ments is  made  apparent  to  the  student  by  his  study  of  the  Scriptures 
themselves  and  then  from  the  Scriptures,  in  order  to  understand  this 
or  that  portion  of  them,  as  he  goes  to  these  various  departments  of 
study,  he  has  definitenes  of  aim  and  sufficient  stimulus  to  enable  him 
to  accomplish  much  more  in  the  time. 

May  I  ask  you  for  a  moment  to  think  how  this  method,  if  gener- 
ally adopted,  would  safeguard  the  student  in  matters  of  critical  study? 
I  have  no  fear  of  any  kind  of  critical  study,  provided  it  is  introduced  in 
its  proper  proportion  and  at  the  proper  time.  What  I  contend  for  is 
that  critical  study  should  follow  and  not  precede  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  Book  itself.  According  to  the  too  common  custom,  a  large 
portion  of  the  time  is  taken  at  the  beginning  of  study  in  critical  or 
secondary  matters,  the  tendency  of  which  is  not  to  increase  but  rather 
to  decrease  the  interest  of  the  student  in  the  thing  itself.  What  I  stand 
for  I  believe  to  be  truly  pedagogical,  and  because  of  the  application  of 
pedagogical  science  in  this  higher  realm  of  Biblical  study  and  teaching, 
I  like  to  think  of  what  I  am  advocating  as  the  method  of  the  Higher 
Pedagogy. 

Prof.  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross:  Dr.  White,  before  taking  up  your 
next  point,  what  do  you  mean  by  the  Bible  in  the  mother  tongue? 
Do  you  mean  each  particular  nation? 

Pres.  White:  I  mean  that  a  man  may  most  easily  acquire 
knowledge  of  any  subject  in  the  language  in  which  he  was  born ;  the  lan- 
guage which  he  has  heard  spoken  before  he  understood  it,  the  language 
which  has  to  him  been  interpreted  first  of  all  in  attitude,  in  gesture,  in 
tone,  and  then  afterwards  in  words.  The  Bible  is  not  intended  to  be 
a  riddle  but  a  revelation,  and  the  message  in  the  large  may  be  secured 
in  any  translation  that  is  anywhere  in  the  region  of  being  accurate. 
After  the  message  in  the  large  by  the  most  economical  and  rapid 
method  shall  have  been  secured,  the  student  is  in  a  position  to  appre- 
ciate and  to  pursue  with  ardor  the  means  for  becoming  master  of  the 
details  of  the  message.  By  this  means  many  students  will  be  stimulated 
to  study  the  Greek  and  the  Hebrew,  thus  by  the  old  method  nearer 
coming  to  appreciate  the  value.  My  contention  is  that  the  Bible  in  the 
mother  tongue  should  be  put  at  the  center  of  our  religious  education 
in  such  a  relation  to  other  departments  as  to  stimulate  all  students  of  it 


COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION.  91 

to  work  eagerly  to  know  everything  in  every  other  department  that  it 
is  possible  for  them  to  know.  At  the  same  time  this  vital  relation  in 
which  the  Bible  is  studied,  with  the  aim  which  should  be  present  in  all 
those  aspiring  to  do  Christian  work,  will  define  the  limitations  of  time 
to  be  spent  in  subsidiary  subjects. 

Before  I  say  another  thing,  I  must  speak  of  the  rim  of  that  wheel. 
It  has  a  hub  and  spokes,  but  these  in  themselves  do  not  make  a  wheel. 
There  must  be  the  periphery.  The  wheel  must  have  a  felloe  and  a  tire. 
This  is  furnished  in  our  scheme  by  the  vocational  studies. 

At  the  beginning  of  my  remarks  I  asked  you  to  keep  in  mind  the 
three  expressions :  The  man,  the  message  and  the  method.  Will  you 
now  think  of  these  three  in  relation  to  the  fundamental  place  for  con- 
tact with  the  Scriptures  themselves  which  I  have  been  advocating? 
One  of  my  associates,  as  we  were  starting  home  on  our  third  trip  to 
the  Far  East,  remarked:  "I  feel  we  ought  to  go  home  and  just  make 
Christians."  She  was  thinking  of  our  students  who  were  destined  for 
the  foreign  field.  This  is  not  intended  as  a  reflection  upon  those 
already  there.  It  was  spoken  in  the  presence  of  the  fearful  temptations 
and  trials  which  face  the  Christian  worker  in  the  world,  especially  per- 
haps we  may  say  in  the  foreign  lands.  How  is  this  to  be  done  without 
large  and  continuous  contact  with  the  message  of  the  Gospel  together 
with  the  study  of  these  other  departments  in  due  proportion?  As  far 
as  the  method  is  concerned,  there  is  much  to  be  learned  of  it  from  such 
contact  with  the  Scriptures  as  is  here  advocated,  especially  when,  while 
they  are  being  studied,  there  is  due  proportion  of  a  use  of  them  in  a 
public  way.  Let  us  then,  in  our  study  of  this  great  problem  of  the 
training  of  Christian  workers,  seek  unification,  simplification,  correla- 
tion, subordination.  In  accomplishing  this  there  is  not  required  so 
much  a  new  essence  as  a  new  emphasis ;  not  so  much  elimination,  but 
subordination  and  limitation  in  many  subjects  which  now  clamor  for 
prominence,  with  concentration  upon  the  fundamentals.  I  believe  that 
the  Biblio-centric  idea  only  is  great  enough  and  unifying  enough  and 
powerful  enough  and  sufficiently  commanding  to  produce  the  desired 
results. 

May  I  close  by  quoting  the  words  of  Bishop  Graves,  of  China: 
"Experience  has  taught  us  that  the  best  way  to  teach  theology  is  to 
make  the  Bible  the  center  of  all  the  teaching,  and  to  devote  the  greatest 
amount  of  time  to  giving  the  students  the  fullest  knowledge  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  and  in  addition  to  teach  all  other  branches  of 
theology  with  constant  reference  to  the  Holy  Scriptures.  In  this  way 
the  training  is  made  more  real  and  practical." 

Miss  Helen  B.  Calder:  As  I  went  away  from  the  last  conference 
I  was  resolved  that  I  would  try  to  have  a  higher  standard  for  candi- 
dates coming  under  my  charge ;  but  we  have  been  more  or  less  compelled 
to  take  them  as  they  came,  and  we  have  had  to  compromise  a  little  with 
our  ideals.  It  is  some  encouragement  to  know  that  there  is  a  hearty 
response  on  the  part  of  candidates  to  our  appeals  for  better  preparation 
of  missionaries.  I  have  found  Student  Volunteers  most  eager  to  hear 
about  this  Board  of  Missionary  Studies.  It  is  also  gratifying  to  know 
the  response  on  the  part  of  missionaries  to  our  attempts  to  raise  our 
standard.  Letters  have  come  from  missionaries  saying,  "We  would 
rather  not  have  any  new  workers  than  to  have  poor  ones,  for  one  poor 
missionary  can  undo  the  work  of  many  good  ones." 

I  am  gratified  that  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  is  planning  to 
publish  this  report  of  Dr.  Mackenzie's  committee.  It  will  be  a  great 
help  to  Student  Volunteer  and  Candidate  Secretaries  to  have  a  leaflet 


92  COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION. 

setting  forth  so  high  an  ideal  to  put  into  the  hands  of  young  men  and 
women  who  are  considering  this  work. 

Let  us  take  up  the  points  as  Dr.  Mackenzie  has  given  them :  First, 
the  physical  qualifications.  I  am  glad  that  subject  is  allowed  as  legiti- 
mate in  a  leaflet  prepared  by  this  Board.  I  feel  very  strongly 
that  there  should  be  a  doctor's  examination,  even  before  a  candidate 
volunteers.  It  would  keep  some  from  volunteering,  but  more  often 
it  would  enable  them  to  rectify  mistakes.  I  wish  such  an  examina- 
tion might  be  required  or  suggested.  We  should  emphasize  the  proper 
physical  preparation  of  our  missionaries,  because  many  of  them  have 
to  be  physical  instructors,  in  addition  to  many  other  duties. 

On  the  educational  side,  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  consider  a  change 
of  pronouns  for  a  little  while,  because  all  my  knowledge  of  candidates 
is  of  zvomen  preparing  for  the  field.  I  make  no  apologies  because  half 
of  our  missionaries  are  women.  I  would  emphasize  again  the  impor- 
tance of  normal  training.  We  cannot  be  sure  that  a  specialist  will  find 
his  or  her  particular  field,  but  we  can  be  sure  that  every  one  who  goes 
to  the  field,  not  only  the  woman  in  the  school,  but  the  man  in  the 
theological  seminary,  or  boys'  school,  the  doctor  or  nurse  in  the  hos- 
pital— every  one  must  train  native  workers ;  and  the  appeal  that  comes 
most  strongly  from  the  field  is  for  that  training.  In  some  way  or  other 
I  wish  we  might  impress  upon  candidates  the  importance  of  getting 
some  knowledge  of  normal  methods. 

I  recommend  most  often  a  course  like  that  in  Teachers  College 
for  those  who  are  going  out  to  develop  the  whole  system  of  education, 
it  may  be,  for  an  empire.  I  wish  we  might  make  it  possible  for  more 
of  our  missionaries  to  get  that  kind  of  training.  There  are  scholar- 
ships for  missionaries  in  places  like  Teachers  College — very  few,  it  is 
true,  but  perhaps  there  will  be  more,  and  maybe  we  can  get  financial 
help  in  scholarships  from  secular  institutions  which  realize  the  impor- 
tance and  privilege  of  reproducing  themselves  in  the  Orient. 

Since  I  have  been  in  the  Board  rooms  and  have  talked  with  mis- 
sionaries on  furlough,  I  have  wished  that  candidates  applying  for  serv- 
ice might  know  more  of  real  conditions  of  life  on  the  field  during  the 
first  few  years.  Student  Volunteer  secretaries  cannot  give  this  to  col- 
lege students,  because  they  do  not  know  it  themselves,  and  I  do  not 
know  how  it  can  be  given.  But  there  ought  to  be  no  romance  whatever 
connected  with  going  out  to  the  field.  I  wish  there  might  be  cor- 
respondence courses  on  this  subject  with  Board  secretaries  or  with 
missionaries  qualified  to  do  this  work. 

I  would  like  to  have  included  in  the  qualifications  a  knowledge  of 
conditions  in  the  home  churches.  I  wish  there  might  be  required  a 
year  of  leadership  in  the  home  churches  before  the  missionary  goes  to 
the  field.  The  Christian  Associations  in  the  colleges  do  a  splendid 
work,  but  college  conditions  are  absolutely  different  from  conditions  in 
the  churches,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  is  working  in  the 
home  church  trying  to  interest  people,  I  feel  the  need  of  appreciation 
by  the  missionaries  of  our  problems.  I  feel  the  need  also  of  the  kind 
of  help  that  the  new  missionar^^  or  the  prospective  missionary  can  give 
both  for  the  value  of  such  work  and  to  prove  real  interest.  Many  Stu- 
dent Volunteers  lose  their  purpose  after  they  leave  college,  but  if  they 
are  found  working  hard  to  interest  a  group  of  young  people  in  mission 
study  classes,  or  introducing  missions  into  the  Sunday  School,  they  are 
proving  that  they  really  mean  business  and  want  to  devote  their  lives 
to  missions.     Then  when  they  get  to  the  field  they  will  be  able  to  send 


COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION.  93 

home  proper  information  to  the  Boards,  for,  having  worked  in  the  home 
churches,  they  will  understand  the  sort  of  things  people  want  to  know. 

As  to  religious  preparation,  some  of  us  have  been  trying  to  do 
away  with  the  idea  that  the  missionary  is  one  who  simply  goes  out  to 
do  evangelistic  work,  and  we  have  succeeded  fairly  well.  But  there 
is  danger  in  our  success  in  assuming  that  every  one  who  thinks  of  going 
has  the  spiritual  motive.  We  must  be  careful  not  to  lose  the  emphasis 
on  the  spiritual  aim  of  our  work.  I  would  like  to  bear  testimony  here 
to  the  work  of  the  Student  Volunteer  secretaries.  They  have  always 
put  the  emphasis  on  the  spiritual  side  of  the  missionary's  life.  But  oc- 
casionally we  come  in  touch  with  people  who  consider  this  work  after 
they  have  left  college,  who  have  not  been  in  touch  with  Volunteer  secre- 
taries. I  wish  we  might  keep  before  such  candidates  the  emphasis  of 
this  leaflet  on  this  point. 

Dr.  Mackenzie  said  there  was  nothing  new  in  this  paper.  I  no- 
ticed several  things  that  would  be  new  to  many  people,  and  to  me  in 
this  connection  it  is  new  to  bring  out  the  point  which  I  am  glad  he  has 
brought  out,  and  to  which  Dr.  King  also  referred — the  danger  of  lax- 
ness  on  the  foreign  field  and  the  importance  of  self-control.  In  that 
connection  I  would  mention  the  value  of  personal  acquaintance  with  the 
volunteer.  It  is  not  always  possible  to  follow  up  names  that  are  sent 
to  us  by  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  but  when  we  can  I  think 
it  means  everything  to  be  able  to  know  from  the  earliest  possible  years 
candidates  who  are  looking  forward  to  the  field.  I  have  found  it  a 
great  help  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  girls  who  are  just  beginning  their 
college  course. 

Finally,  I  wish,  in  preparing  this  report,  we  might  incorporate 
those  words  which  Dr.  King  gave  elsewhere  as  qualifications  for  a 
missionary:  "Radical  conscientiousness,  unusual  initiative  and  de- 
termination." When  the  missionaries  have  met  all  these  qualifications, 
we  at  home  will  have  to  resign  and  call  some  of  them  home  to  take  our 
places,  because  they  will  then  be  so  much  better  fitted  to  do  our  work. 

G.  A.  Johnston  Ross:  There  are  one  or  two  things  that  Have 
occurred  to  me  as  I  have  been  reading  this  wonderful  paper.  On  the 
first  page  there  is  a  reference  to  the  physical  qualifications  of  mission- 
aries. Now  I  don't  know  anything  practically  about  the  conditions  on 
this  side  of  the  water,  but  to  a  reprehensible  extent  Boards  in  England 
have  neglected  the  health  of  their  missionaries  when  they  are  at  home 
on  furlough ;  and  I  was  wondering  whether  it  would  be  at  all  desirable 
or  relevant  to  this  paper  to  say  anything  about  the  evil  of  overworking 
missionaries  by  deputation  work  during  their  furloughs.  There  cer- 
tainly are  young  people  who  are  afraid  to  go  into  missionary  work  be- 
cause of  what  they  find  in  regard  to  the  use  that  the  Boards  make  of 
the  missionaries  at  home  on  furlough.  Deputationizing  is  not  only  ex- 
hausting for  men  who  are,  as  you  described  them,  men  of  depleted 
vitality — and  hardly  anybody  can  be  seven  years  or  five  years  on  the 
foreign  field  without  a  measurable  depletion  of  vitality — you  can't  do 
deputation  work  without  running  physical  risks;  but  besides  that  I 
wish  it  could  be  emphasized  in  a  paper  like  this  that  too  much  deputa- 
tionizing on  the  part  of  the  missionary  is  a  spiritual  loss  to  the  mission- 
ary himself.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would  be  possible  for  you  to 
incorporate  in  a  single  sentence,  in  what  is  so  admirable,  as  it  is,  a  word 
or  two  that  might  be  a  salutary  warning  to  Boards  in  this  matter. 

But  there  is  another  point  on  the  next  page  where  you  speak  of  the 
evils  of  an  inadequate  knowledge  of  Christianity.  There  are  three 
conditions  that  you  have  mentioned  there :  "The  discovery  of  personal 


94  COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION. 

incompetence  to  meet  certain  situations,  to  discuss  the  claims  and 
authority  of  the  Gospel,"  and  then  about  passing  the  first  enthusiasm  of 
youth,  and,  finally,  "superficial  knowledge  of  Christianity  leads  to  super- 
ficial ways  of  presenting  the  Gospel  and  superficial  tests  of  conversion." 
All  that,  it  seems  to  be,  is  simply  admirable.  I  wonder  if  it  would  be 
possible  to  add  that  a  superficial  or  inadequate  knowledge  of  Christian- 
ity makes  for  quarelling  and  for  fanatical  quarelling  about  smaller 
points.  It  has  often  seemed  to  me  to  be  pathetic  in  the  last  degree  to 
find  that  our  mission  stations,  because  our  missionaries  are  inadequately 
trained  in  Christianity,  are  hotbeds  of  dispeace,  which  are  really  due 
to  quarrelling  about  minor  points,  and  that  often  missionaries  are  hard 
fanatics  on  merely  subordinate  subjects.  I  think  a  training  in  breadth, 
as  one  of  the  members  here  in  this  conference  has  suggested,  is  most 
essential  from  that  point  of  view.  A  young  friend  of  my  own,  who 
ultimately  did  not  go  into  missionar)'  work,  but  into  the  civil  service, 
after  testing  missionary  work  on  the  field,  said  that  the  reason  for  his 
going  into  work  in  the  civil  service  and  not  missionary  work  was  that 
he  had  a  year  in  the  mission  station  in  which  he  had  three  things  to  do. 
One  was  to  keep  house,  the  second  was  to  keep  accounts,  and  the  third 
was  to  keep  the  peace ;  and  he  found  the  last  the  most  difficult  of  all. 

May  I  say  how  very  thankful  I  am  for  the  stress  which  you  lay 
upon  the  necessity  for  a  personal  experience  of  Christianity?  As  Miss 
Calder  has  been  speaking  just  now  about  these  freak  cases  of  young 
women  desiring  to  enter  the  missionary  work  who  have  no  religious 
interest,  I  should  like  to  testify  that  that  is  getting  to  be  an  appalling 
feature  of  the  present  generation.  Some  men  desire  to  go  into  the 
ministry  who  do  not  even  firmly  believe  in  God  and  who  have  appa- 
rently no  religious  interest,  strictly  so  called,  at  all.  Whether  it  is  due 
to  the  quite  abnormal  emphasis  laid  upon  our  undischarged  social  obli- 
gations, and,  therefore,  to  the  fact  that  young  people  accept  the  appeal 
for  social  justice  as  though  it  were  the  equivalent  of  a  gospel,  I  don't 
know ;  but  we  are  face  to  face  in  our  theological  seminaries — some  of 
them  at  least — with  this  extraordinary  thing,  that  young  men  desire 
to  go  into  the  ministry  who  have  neither  the  desire  to  speak  for  Christ 
nor  any  knowledge  personally  of  His  power,  according  to  their  own 
testimony,  but  just  want  to  do  something,  as  if  the  ministry  were  a  kind 
of  exalted  boys'  club,  or  boy  scouts,  or  something  of  that  kind.  The 
odd  thing  is  that  it  is  not  possible  for  us  wholly  to  condemn  these 
aspirants.  What  we  have  to  do  is  to  meet  this  extraordinary  situation 
with  especially  careful  wisdom.  But  the  point  I  make  is  this :  that  the 
emphasis  which  this  paper  puts  upon  a  definite  personal  experience  is 
of  the  utmost  value,  and  the  more  strongly  we  can  lay  that  before  our 
young  people,  the  better.  I  should  like  also  to  say  how  grateful  I  am 
for  the  stress  you  lay  so  tactfully  upon  the  appreciation  of  the  power 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour.  The  modern  way  of  thinking 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  has  this  effect:  I  find  amongst  some  of  our 
theological  students  that  they  imagine  they  have  quite  got  at  religion 
without  Him,  or  that  they  can  pass  Him  by ;  having  reached  God  the 
Father,  they  can  pass  Christ  by  with  a  respectful  bow.  I  do  not  say 
they  are  unorthodox,  or  that  they  distinctly  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  divine,  or  anything  of  the  sort ;  but  the  practical  point  is  that  they 
are  going  out  into  the  Christian  ministry  without  the  joy,  without  the 
buoyancy,  without  the  enthusiasm,  which  is  given,  so  far  as  I  know, 
by  nothing  so  much  as  by  the  friendship  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  idea  of 
being  the  servant  of  our  Divine  Lord,  Who  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  human 


COMMITTEE   IV.— DISCUSSION.  95 

friend,  is  missing  from  the  experience,  as  I  find  it,  of  many  of  our 
young  people  in  the  colleges  and  universities. 

There  is  just  one  other  little  point  which  I  should  like  to  see 
emphasized,  and  that  is  the  need  for  our  young  people  to  go  through 
the  discipline  of  obedience.  There  has  been  a  good  deal,  sir,  of  slip- 
pered ease  in  our  theological  training,  in  the  life  of  our  seminaries,  and 
I  cannot  but  count  it  an  unfortunate  thing  that  in  so  many  of  our  de- 
nominations young  men  are  put  out  into  the  ministry  to  be  at  once  the 
masters  of  their  own  time;  and  I  would  like  cordially  to  support  the 
suggestion  made  here  that  missionaries  should,  for  a  time  at  any  rate, 
be  under  the  guidance  of  others.  If  it  were  possible  to  combine  in  one 
proposal  this  with  a  suggestion  which  came  out  of  our  discussion  to- 
day, I  should  be  grateful — namely,  that  there  should  be  schools  estab- 
lished on  the  foreign  field  for  the  study  of  language  and  one  or  two 
other  matters,  and  that  the  period  spent  in  these  schools  by  our  young 
missionaries  should  be  a  probationary  period.  Perhaps  our  Boards 
might  at  the  end  of  that  time  judge  by  the  results  of  the  examinations 
of  the  young  men  and  young  women  in  these  schools  whether  they 
could  support  a  young  fellow  when  he  came  back  again  to  his  native 
land  for  his  first  furlough  in  going  through  special  training  of  some 
sort  then ;  but  I  should  be  so  glad  if  that  decision  of  the  Board  were  to 
depend  partly  upon  the  report  of  the  president  or  professors  of  this 
school  on  this  question  of  questions,  as  to  whether  this  young  man  had 
learned  habits  of  obedience  and  physical  self-control.  I  cannot  but 
feel  there  are  a  great  many  failures  in  the  ministry  at  home  that  are 
due  simply  to  the  fact  that  young  men  have  gone  out  without  training 
in  subordination  of  their  wills,  training  also  in  physical  self-control — 
matters  of  getting  up  in  the  morning  and  that  kind  of  thing — who  have 
gone  out  into  the  ministry  into  a  position  of  fictitious  and  artificial  social 
importance,  where  they  are  masters  of  their  own  time  and  ways  and 
have  fallen  down  in  ignoble  indolence  and  so  have  become  anonymous 
mediocrities  before  they  are  well  on  to  middle  life.  If  we  could  pre- 
vent that  kind  of  thing,  which  must  be  of  still  greater  trouble  in  sub- 
tropical climates,  by  making  this  period  spent  in  the  language  school 
at  the  same  time  a  probationary  period,  I  think  it  would  be  of  very  great 
advantage  to  our  missionaries.  Of  course,  I  do  not  at  all  mean  that 
young  missionaries  should  be  placed  under  a  system  of  espionage  or  re- 
pressive control  by  older  and  more  conservative  men,  but  that  they 
should  have  the  advantage  of  a  period  of  discipline  and  drill,  issuing  in 
a  reasonable  efficiencv  test. 


INDEX 


Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  5. 

Appointments  of  missionary  candi- 
dates, need  of  early,  45. 

Bangalore  School  of  Languages,  15. 

Barton,  Dr.  James  L.,  discussion  by, 
72 ;  presentation  of  report  by,  17-20 ; 
referred  to,  34,  69. 

Beach,  Dr.  Harlan  P.,  discussion  by, 
38-42;  referred  to,  76. 

Belgian  Catholic  missionaries,  study  of 
Chinese  by,  61. 

Bible,  facilities  for  study  of,  50;  lack 
of  knowledge  of,  on  the  part  of  mis- 
sionaries, 39;  need  of  the  knowledge 
of,  on  the  part  of  missionaries,  81,  82 ; 
study  of,  in  the  special  preparation 
of  candidates,  23,  25,  36,  37,  48,  49, 
52,  60,  84,  87-90. 

Bibliography,  of  books  especially  suit- 
able for  translation,  suggested,  37 ; 
on  Mohammedanism,  prepared  by 
British  Board  of  Studies,  referred 
to,  16;  on  subjects  needed  in  the 
special  preparation  of  candidates, 
20,  21,  23-26,  32,  37;  prepared  by 
Committee  on  Home  Base  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference,  referred  to, 
76,  77;  prepared  by  Committee  HI 
of  the  Board  of  Missionary  Prepara- 
tion, outlined,  76,  77;  prepared  by 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  re- 
ferred to,  77. 

Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  aim 
of,  4;  budget  of,  8,  9;  change  of 
name  of,  11;  committee  for  1912  of, 
8;  constitution  of,  4,  5;  director  of, 
8;  duty  of,  in  discovering  where 
scholarships  are  available  for  special 
missionary  study,  72;  duty  of,  in  re- 
lation to  the  special  preparation  of 
candidates,  69,  70;  executive  com- 
mittee of,  6 ;  meetings  of,  7 ;  mem- 
bership of,  6,  7,  8;  methods  of,  5; 
officers  of,  6,  8;  organization  of,  4,  5 ; 
publication  of  pamphlet  on  "Prep- 
aration of  Volunteers  While  in  Col- 
lege" by,  46;  publications  of,  11; 
report  of  committee  on  nominations 
of,  10,  11. 

Boards  of  Study,  relation  of  Contin- 
uation Committee  to,  14. 

British  Board  of  Study,  establishment 
of  summer  missionary  training 
schools  by,  51 ;  Oxford  Summer 
School  held  by,  16,  41,  42;  relations 
of  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 
to,  9;  work  of,  16. 


British  Missionary  Societies,  special 
preparation  of  candidates  by,  62, 63. 

Budget  of  Board  of  Missionary  Prep- 
aration, 8,  9. 

Burton,  Prof.  Ernest  D.,  discussion  by, 
52-56. 

Cairo  School  for  Arabic  Study,  15. 

Calder,  Miss  Helen  B.,  discussion  by, 
91-93 ;  referred  to,  94. 

Candidate  committees,  recommenda- 
tions to,  87. 

Candidate  secretaries,  duty  of,  44. 

Capen,  Prof.  Edward  W.,  discussion 
by,  45,  46,  66,  67 ;  referred  to,  69,  73, 
76;  quotation  from,  60. 

Catechisms,  criticism  of  use  of,  by  mis- 
sionaries, 40. 

Chentu  Language  School,  15. 

China  Inland  Mission,  method  used  by, 
in  training  missionaries,  59. 

China  Inland  Mission  Training 
Schools,  15. 

Chamberlain,  Dr.  William  I.,  presenta- 
tion of  the  report  of  Committee  III 
by,  76,  77. 

Christianity,  study  of  needed,  by  mis- 
sionary candidates,  23,  52,  81,  82, 
93,  94. 

Church  History,  study  of  needed,  by 
missionary  candidates,  23. 

Church  Missionary  Society,  policy  of, 
in  preparing  candidates,  70. 

Colleges,  cooperation  between  Foreign 
Mission  Boards  and,  34;  relation  of, 
to  the  special  preparation  of  candi- 
dates, 20,  35,  56,  62,  63,  67,  70. 

Commission  V  of  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference, report  of,  referred  to,  86. 

Committee  I,  members  of,  8,  17 ;  re- 
port of,  17-29;  questionnaire  of,  17- 
21 ;  work  of,  8. 

Committee  II,  members  of,  8,  47 ;  re- 
port of,  47-52;  work  of,  8,  47. 

Committee  III,  members  of,  8,  76;  re- 
port of,  76,  77;  work  of,  8. 

Committee  IV,  members  of,  8,  78;  re- 
port of,  78-87;  work  of,  8. 

Committees  for  1912,  of  Board  of  Mis- 
sionary Preparation,  8. 

Conference  at  Lake  Mohonk,  quota- 
tion from  report  of,  14. 

Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards, 
action  by,  12;  recommendations  of 
Executive  Committee  of,  9;  report 
of  Commission  on  "Language  Study" 
of,  referred  to,  52;  resolutions  of, 
8,9. 

Continuation  Committee  of,  relation  of, 
to  Board  of  Study,  14. 


97 


INDEX 


Constitution   of    Board   of    Missionary 

Preparation,   4,  5. 
Cooperation  on  the  foreign  field,  one 

way  to  promote,  65,  66. 
Country,   study  of   the,   needed   in  the 

special  preparation  of  candidates,  82. 
Courses  for  special  study  by  missionary 

candidates,  20,  23. 
Cummings,  Rev.  Thomas  F.,  teaching 

of  phonetics  by,  52,  68. 

Director  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  8. 

Edinburgh  conference,  report  of  Com- 
mission V,  referred  to,  47,  59,  81,  86. 

Educational  missionaries,  specialization 
in  the  preparation  of,  42-45 ;  unusual 
demands  on,  38,  39,  43,  44. 

Education,  study  of,  in  the  special 
preparation  of  missionaries,  33,  34, 
41,  43,  44,  47,  60,  61  (See  "Peda- 
gogy"). 

Educational  preparation  of  candi- 
dates, need  of,  for  the  training  of 
native  workers,  33,  34,  38  (see 
also   "Intellectual   preparation"). 

Educational  Qualifications  of  mission- 
aries, 80-83,  87-94  (see  "Intellectual 
qualifications"). 

Educational  work,  on  the  mission 
fields,  criticism  of,  38,  39;  part  of  the 
duty  of  all  missionaries,  33,  34,  38. 

Electives  in  college,  use  of,  in  the 
special  preparation  of  candidates,  35. 

Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of 
Missionary  Preparation,  members  of, 
6 ;  report  of,  7-9. 

Erdman,  Dr.  Charles  R.,  presentation 
of  report  by,  47-52 ;  referred  to,  59. 

Financing,  of  special  preparation  of 
candidates,  26-28,  31,  32,  34,  48,  49, 
63-66,  68,  69,  72 ;  of  special  study  by 
missionaries  during  furloughs,  69, 
71,  72. 

Foreign  Mission  Boards,  "Big  Broth- 
er Movement"  among,  32 ;  coopera- 
tion between  colleges  and,  34;  duty 
of,  toward  Student  Volunteers,  46; 
duty  of,  to  watch  over  the  health  of 
missionaries,  80;  early  appointments 
of  candidates  by.  45 ;  education  of,  in 
matter  of  special  preparation  of  can- 
didates, 34;  financing  of  special 
preparation  of  candidates  by.  26-28. 
31.  32,  34,  48,  49,_  63-66,  68,' 69,  72; 
financing  of  special  study  by  mis- 
sionaries during  their  furloughs,  by, 
69,  71,  72;  present  plans  and  prac- 
tices of.  as  to  the  preparation  re- 
quired of  their  candidates,  17-29;  su- 
pervision by.  of  special  study  by 
candidates  and  by  missionaries  on 
furlough,  26-28,  69.  72. 


Foreign  Missions  Conference,  action 
by,  12;  recommendations  of  Execu- 
tive Committee  of,  9;  report  of 
Commission  on  "Language  Study" 
appointed  by,  referred  to,  52;  reso- 
lutions, 8,  9. 

Furloughs  of  missionaries,  financing  of 
special  preparation  during,  72;  use 
of,  71-73,  93. 

German  Mission  Boards,  special  prep- 
aration of  candidates  by,  62. 
Graves,   Bishop,  quotation  from,  91. 

Haggard,  Dr.  F.  P.,  discussion  by,  67- 
70,  72,  73. 

Hartford  School  of  Missions,  34. 

Home  churches,  knowledge  of  condi- 
tions in,  needed  by  candidates,  92,  93. 

Intellectual  qualifications  of  missionary 
candidates,  21-23,  25,  38-42.  See 
"Educational  qualifications." 

King,  Pres.  H.  C,  discussion  by,  34-38; 
referred  to,  49,  93. 

Lake  Mohonk  Conference,  quotation 
from  report  of,  14. 

Language  schools  on  the  foreign  field, 
14,  15,  28,  33,  59;  need  of,  and  scope 
of  training  in,  48,  49. 

Language    School   in   West   China,   33. 

Language  study,  by  missionary  candi- 
dates, 24,  33,  37,  47,.  48,  51,  52,  61,  62, 
64,  70,  71,  74,  82,  83 ;  facilities  for,  50 ; 
inadequacy  of  on  the  part  of  many 
missionaries,  39. 

Liturgies  to  be  used  by  foreign  mis- 
sionaries, need  of  study  of,  40. 

Lucknow  Winter  Language  School,  15. 

Mackay,  Dr.  R.  P.,  discussion,  56,  57. 

Mackenzie,  Dr.  W.  Douglas,  address 
by,  13-16;  discussion  by,  73-75;  pres- 
entation of  report  by,  78-87 ;  referred 
to,  34,  37.  60,  91,  93. 

Medical  missionary  candidates,  special 
preparation  of,  42;  special  post- 
graduate work  by,  51,  52;  study  of 
tropical  medicine  by,  28. 

Meetings  of  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  7. 

Membership  of  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  6,  7,  8. 

Minutes  of  Second  Annual  Meeting  of 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation, 
7-12. 

Missionary  Summer  Schools  (Union), 
need  of,  36. 

Missionary  Training  Schools  in  North 
America,  arguments  against,  62-64 ; 
arguments  for,  66,  67;  essential 
courses  in,  52 ;  facilities  for  study 
of  missions  and  religion  in,  50;  in- 


9<S 


INDEX 


adequacy  of,  22,  2Z ;  need  of  defining 
work  of,  48;  value  of  post-graduate 
work  in,  59-62. 

Missionary  Training  Schools  on  the  for- 
eign field,  arguments  for,  64-66,  IZ, 
74;  as  probationary  schools,  95; 
growth  of,  14,  15 ;  need  and  scope  of, 
51,  55,  56,  70,  71. 

Mission  Boards,  see  Foreign  Mission 
Boards. 

Mission,  Science  and  history  of,  study 
of,  by  missionary  candidate,  23,  25, 
47,  50,  61,  82. 

Mohammedanism,  bibliography  on,  re- 
ferred to,  16. 

Mott,  Dr.  John  R.,  referred  to,  78. 

Native  workers,  need  of  better  train- 
ing of,  38,  IZ. 
Nominations,  report  of  Committee  on, 

10,  11. 

Normal  training  of  candidates,  need 
of,  38,  92.  See  also  "Educational 
preparation  of  missionary  candi- 
dates." 

North  India  Summer  School  for 
Women,  15. 

Officers  of  Board  of  Missionary  Prep- 
aration, 6,  8. 

Oxford  Summer  School,  value  of,  16, 
41,  42. 

Paul,  President  C.  T.,  discussion  by, 
59-62;  referred  to,  64-67,  76. 

Pedagogy,  facilities  for  study  of,  50 ; 
study  of,  by  all  missionary  candi- 
dates, 23,  25,  47,  83;  study  of,  by 
educational  missionaries,  41.  See 
also  "Education." 

Peking  School  of  Language  Study,  15. 

Personal  qualifications  of  missiona- 
ries, Zl.  38,  79,  80,  84-87,  92-95. 

Peoples,  history  and  characteristics  of, 
need  of  study  of,  by  candidates, 
23,  39,  40,  82. 

Phonetics,  need  of  study  of,  by  candi- 
dates, 48,  51,  61,  71,  82,  83. 

Poona  Language  School,  15. 

Portuguese  Africa,  study  of  Portu- 
guese by  appointees  to,  28. 

Prayer,  the  missionary's  habits  of,  84. 

Psychology,  study  of,  by  missionary 
candidates,  83. 

Publications  of  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  11. 

Qualifications  of  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary, 78-95.  See  "Educational," 
"Intellectual."  "Personal,"  "Relig- 
ious," "Spiritual." 

Reading  for  missionary  candidates,  76, 

11 .  ^ 

Religions,  comparative,  facilities  for 
study  of,  history  and  philosophy  of, 


in  theological  seminaries,  50;  need  of 
study  of,  by  missionary  candidates, 
23-25,  40,  47,  61,  82. 

Religious  education,  work  of  mission- 
ary in,  40. 

Religious  qualifications  of  missiona- 
ries, 83,  84,  93,  94.  See  "Spiritual 
qualifications." 

Report  of  Committee  I,  17-29. 

Report  of  Committee  II,  50-52. 

Report  of  Committee  III,    76, 11 . 

Report  of  Committee  IV,  78-87. 

Rice,  W.  A.,  list  of  personal  qualifica- 
tions of  missionaries  given  by,  86. 

Ross,  Prof.  G.  A.  Johnston,  discussion 
by,  93,  94;  questions  asked  by,  90. 

Russell,  Dean  James  E.,  referred  to,  76. 

Sailer,  Dr.  T.  H.  P.,  discussion  by,  42- 
46,  70;  referred  to,  71,  76. 

School  of  Oriental  Studies  in  London, 
62. 

Shanghai  Union  Language  School,  15. 

Shore,  Rev.  T.  Edgerton,  discussion 
by,  32-34. 

Sociology,  facilities  for  study  of,  in 
theological  seminaries  and  mission- 
ary training  schools,  47,  50 ;  study 
of,  by  missionary  candidates,  47,  60. 

Specialization  in  the  preparation  of 
missionaries,  42-45. 

Special  preparation  of  missionary 
candidates,  attitude  of  student 
toward,  34;  facilities  for,  50-52;  dis- 
cussion of  whether  it  should  be 
made  at  home  base  or  on  the  field, 
59-75 ;  financing  of,  26-28,  31,  32,  IZ, 
74;  from  the  point  of  view  of  an 
educationalist  studying  the  work  of 
missionaries,  38-42 ;  most  important 
elements  in,  31  ;  need  of  high  stand- 
ard for,  32-34,  45,  46;  problem  of 
time  in  relation  to,  34-37,  45,  49,  56, 
57,  59-62,  72 ;  progress  in  the  idea 
of,  14;  reasons  for  lack  of  clear  re- 
quirements on  the  part  of  Mission 
Boards  for,  29,  30;  relation  of  col- 
lege and  theological  seminary 
courses  to,  30,  56,  57,  72 ;  relation 
of,  to  language  study,  74,  75 ;  sub- 
jects for  study  essential  in,  80-83; 
supervision  by  Mission  Boards  of, 
26-28 ;  through  special  courses  after 
a  theological  course,  30,  31  ;  through 
special  summer  schools,  30,  31. 

Special  preparation  of  educational  mis- 
sionaries, present  lack  in,  38,  39. 

Speer.  Dr.  Robert  E.,  discussion  by, 
45,  62-66 ;  referred  to,  66,  69,  IZ. 

Spiritual  preparation  of  missionary 
candidates,  41,   57. 

Spiritual  qualifications  of  missionaries, 
83,   84. 

Strong,  Prof.  John  H.,  discussion 
by,  57-59;  referred  to,  62,  65,  70. 


99 


INDEX 


Student  Volunteer  Movement,  publi- 
cation of  report  of  Committee  V  by, 
91 ;  work  of,  referred  to,  93. 

Student  Volunteers,  pamphlet  sug- 
gested for,  on  special  preparation 
needed,  46. 

Student  Volunteer  secretaries,  work 
of,  92,  93. 

Subjects  for  special  study  by  candi- 
dates, 23. 

Summer  missionary  training  schools, 
30,  31,  36,  49,  51,  57,  58. 

Summer  School  at  Oxford,  16,  41,  42. 

Sunday  Schools,  inadequacy  of,  on  the 
mission  fields,  40. 

Teachers  College  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, value  to  missionary  candi- 
dates of  study  at,  92. 

Theological  seminaries,  for  native  pas- 
tors, 72;  inadvisability  of  a  four 
years'  course  in,  52-56;  relation  of, 


to  the  special  preparation  of  mis- 
sionary candidates,  20,  30,  35,  36,  49, 
50-52,  62,  63 ;  courses  on  the  religions 
of  the  world  in,  47. 

Tokyo  Language  School,  15. 

Translation,  bibliography  of  books 
suitable   for,   needed,  2>7. 

Tropical  medicine,  study  of,  by  medi- 
cal candidates,  25,  28,  52. 

Turkey,  study  of  French  language  by 
appointees  to,  28. 

Union    Missionary    Summer    Schools, 

need  of,  36. 
University  of  Nanking,  department  of 

missionary  training  in  the,  15. 

Watson,  Dr.  Charles  R.,  discussion  by, 
29-32,  71,  72;  referred  to,  49. 

Weitbrecht,  Canon,  referred  to,  16. 

White,  President  Wilbert  W.,  discus- 
sion by,  45,  70,  71,  87-91. 


100 


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